The automatic door slid open in a quite swoosh as Nikita Ross approached it and placed her hand, palm down, on the biometric scanner. Nikita entered to the tall building and strode towards the elevators. She pushed the small metal button and the elevator door slid open. She stepped in and said, "12th floor." The elevator moved up swiftly and within a few seconds a soft voice declared "Technocom building, 12th floor, Computers and Technology Section."

Nikita stepped out of the elevator and headed towards a large room with glass walls across the room. She nodded politely to the few people that sat in the room in front of their computer screens. She approached the room and the door opened. The rest of the members of the board of directors were already seated around the polished oval table. "I'm sorry I'm late," she said, "it couldn't be avoided."

The head of the company dismissed her apology with a wave of his hand, "Doesn't matter, Miss Ross. Please take your seat." Nikita approached her seat and sat down on the metal chair. She has been a member in Technocom's board of directors for 3 years now. She has started out as a consultant, but very soon her ambition and natural talent brought her to the position of the head of the Computers and Technology Section in Technocom. It was the most prestigious and desirable section in Technocom, and Nikita was the youngest person who ever staffed this position. The board of directors usually met every Monday in the conference room that was positioned in the upper floor of Technocom's building in Los-Angeles. The head of the company, Mr. Paul Wolfe, started the discussion. "Let's begin, shall we?"

He rose from his chair and stood with his hands to his sides. "I'm happy to inform everybody that another branch of Technocom was established in Tokyo and the delegates from Japan will be here tomorrow night."

"Will we have a meeting with them?" asked Miles Brooks, the head of Section 3- Medical Equipment Section.

"Not exactly a formal meeting, but more of a cocktail party." Paul Wolfe replied, "It will take place in Silver Gate Hall, Eight o'clock tomorrow night." He paused and added, "Needless to say, all of you are expected to attend." Everybody nodded in agreement and Mr. Wolfe continued, "At the party you're only required to, how do I say it- mingle. Provide them answers if they have questions." He paused again and then explained, "Afterwards there will be a meeting that include the delegates, Ms. Sand and myself."

Madeline Sand was the second-in-command in Technocom. She was Paul Wolfe's personal assistant and consultant and she enjoyed a great deal of power in Technocom. She was an intriguing woman with brown hair and cold brown eyes. Something about her has always given Nikita the creeps.

"Why aren't the rest of us join the meeting?" asked Julian Brown, the head of the Communication Section.

Mr. Wolfe averted his gaze towards Madeline and nodded slightly. "The meeting is just a primary meeting, a formal one. We will get acquainted with the directors of the Japanese branch. A further meeting will take place several months afterward, after the Japanese will start to work."

Paul nodded and continued, "Let's move to today's updates. Miss Ross?"

"Computers and Technology has made a lot of progress lately," Nikita informed smoothly, "We've improved the computer system in our offices around the world in the past few weeks."

"Improved how?" Julian interrupted.

"The main improvement is in the speed of our processors. Our fastest processor is now working on 360 GBPS."

"Anything else?" Paul questioned.

"We have succeeded to reduce the space needed to store data. It's now smaller in 3.5 percent than the last one."

"Very well. Mr. Brooks, how are things going at the Medical section?"

"I'm glad to inform that we've finally competed the computerized analyzer. It can now diagnose every illness and suggest cures to every disease known to science."

"Have you started selling the devices to hospitals around the world?"

"Yes, we have," Brooks answered with a hint of pride in his voice, "We have provided devices to every large hospital in America and to some small ones."

"How many units so far?"

"About 5,000. But more units are being sold at these very moments."

"How about hospitals that don't have the funds to purchase it?" Nikita questioned.

"Some hospitals in less-developed zoned received some as a donation. Others got a significant discount." Brooks replied proudly.

"Good. Keep me updated. Biometrics, any changes from the last time?" Paul Wolfe continued.

"I'm afraid not, Sir." Replied Mr. Trang from Biometrics regretfully, "we still have problems with the biometric on-line security systems."

"What's the problem?"

"The thing is, our systems are not a hundred percent reliable. Despite all of the precautions we have taken, the systems still can be outsmarted."

"This is unacceptable," Mr. Wolfe said coldly, "You've been having problems for a few months. I want to see some progress or I'll have to remove you from your current position."

Mr. Trang knew better than to argue with Paul Wolfe when he was angry. "Yes, Sir," he replied gravely and lowered his head.

"Communication? Any progress?"

"Yes, Sir," Julian Brown replied immediately. "We are in the process of developing a new communication device that is intended for computer communication. We're working with Ms. Ross' section when we need help with the computers."

"Inform me when you make progress," Paul replied. He proceeded to question the rest of the sections' heads and Nikita listened carefully to each of the updates. After all, she did not achieve her position by ignoring details. Something she had learned along the way was that little details, no matter how small or insignificant they seemed, could be very important.

After everybody finished the updates, Paul concluded the meeting. "Thank you all, Gentlemen, Ladies, you can go back to your work."

Everybody started to rise from their seats but suddenly Paul said, "I forgot to mention- there's a special meeting tomorrow at 10:00 AM. I have some matters to discuss with you but I don't have the time now. I expect you all to attend, this is extremely important."

*****

Nikita opened the door and went out from the building. The hour was 19:00 and she was tired. Her day at work had been exhausting. She had to supervise three advancing new projects simultaneously, and was standing on her feet all day long. Although, the standing up wasn't necessary, but she found out that she could concentrate better standing up. She walked towards her car and placed her palm upon the biometric sensor. The sensor buzzed softly and the car's door opened. Nikita entered the car with a sigh and leaned her aching back on the soft car seat.

"Good evening, Nikita," the car greeted in a cheerful voice, "where would you like to go?"

"Home," she uttered quietly.

"The main road is overloaded," the car informed her, "we will drive through the bypass. The ride will take about 17 minutes, enjoy the ride." Nikita sighed and closed her eyes. She still found it hard to adjust to the sophisticated artificial intelligence system that was installed in all of the new cars. Actually, that system was a relatively new development of Technocom. Gail Williams, the head of the Transportation Development Section, was particularly proud of it. That system had taken months to design. It was an unbelievingly complicated project, and Transportation frequently used workers from her section.

The car ignited itself and maneuvered smoothly into the traffic. "Would you like some music during the ride?" the car asked pleasantly. "No, thank you," Nikita murmured, her voice hoarse. She had never like the contemporary music. The sounds were a little too computer-like to her taste. The sounds had no depth, no soul, no inner significance, and Nikita did not like it. The only music she could stand to hear was a soft, lyrical Jazz music. But, unfortunately, there weren't many creations that appealed to her. Everything's changed in the world, She thought ruefully, even the music. But now she didn't feel like listening to music. She was dead tired and her head pounded. So she closed her eyes and tried to relax. The new system in the car was completely independent. It had a built-in navigation system and an uplink to satellites in the space. It even had a sophisticated system that saw that the car avoided road accidents. Nikita started to drift off when suddenly she felt the car halt. She opened her eyes and rubbed them. "We have arrived the wanted location," the car announced and the door slid open at Nikita's touch. She went out of the car and headed towards her apartment building. Another positive thing about the car was that it had a great security system. It responded only to her touch and voice and that facility made it almost impossible to steal.

*****

Nikita stepped into her apartment building and entered the elevator. The building was large and spacious and there were only two tenants in each floor. Nikita went out of the elevator and approached her door. She took out her electronic key and inserted it into the keyhole. There was a soft tinkle and the door opened silently. Like in the car, the security system in her house was also a sophisticated one. Not only that a key was needed, but also the door only opened if the hand holding the key was Nikita's. Nikita thought that it's a little ridiculous. That mechanism prevented her from giving her house key to anyone before programming the locking system. The key alone would be useless out of her hands. She snorted, it's not like there was anyone in her life she would trust with her house key. There was her next door neighbor, Carla, that used to be her friend. But Carla got married a couple of months ago and moved to Brussels with her husband. Her empty apartment was unoccupied at the moment.

Nikita sighed and stepped into her apartment. The apartment was furnished in modern metallic furniture and the walls were painted soft blues. Nikita liked her apartment, it gave her a sense of peace. She tossed her key on the table and headed towards the bathroom, taking off her clothes on the way. She went into the shower and adjusted the water temperature. The water was warm and soothed her tired muscles. She washed her hair and body and stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a thick towel. After donning a simple nightgown, she stepped into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. While working, she hardly noticed that she hadn't eaten all day, but now, she started to feel the effects of skipping lunch.

She peered into the refrigerator, trying to decide what to eat. Although it held all of her favorite types of food and drinks, she didn't feel like having any of them. She decided to order in some Chinese food.

She closed the refrigerator's door and went to her computer. She sat in the comfortable chair in front of it and put on her VR goggles. The computer was always online, all of today's computers were. Her home computer received updates from all over the world any minute, and therefore was always updated. She cliched a few 'buttons' in the cyberspace in front of her eyes and a menu of the Chinese restaurant opened before her. She picked her favorites and hit 'send'.

"Your order will arrive in 10 minutes." The screen said, and Nikita took off her goggles and placed them back in the drawer.

She went to her livingroom couch and clicked the TV on. The TV was actually a big screen that covered half of the wall in front of her. There were 1,595 channels from all over the world. Nikita clicked on the 'News' button on the remote and the CNN channel appeared on the screen. CNN was the main news channel, well, actually, the only news channel. Several years ago, CNN took over the news area in the world-TV, buying BBC and SKY NEWS and more in the process. The rest of the news channels simply collapsed because they couldn't stand the competition. In the beginning, some congressmen protested against this powerful monopoly, but eventually, all the laws that forebode it were cancelled and it became the most customary way to do business. Since than, the business world has changed immensely. For example, the restaurants in the world today were organized in international organizations. 'Pizza Hut' was the only pizza restaurant in the world, 'McDonald's' took over the hamburger and hot dog section and so on.

Nikita leaned her head on the pillows on her couch and watched the news. The date appeared in the upper left corner: September 25th, 2216.

She recognized the face on the screen. Bradley Tacker, one of the most popular TV figures in America. Bradley Tacker smiled and started to tell the world news. There was a new president in Chile, another peace agreement was made in the Middle East and Australia announced that another one of her research satellites was about to be launched in the end of the week. Then there was local news in a sub-channel. Nikita yawned and closed her eyes until she heard Bradley Tacker utter the name "Technocom". She frowned and opened her eyes.

"The rebels have shown again today that they're not happy with the actions of the biggest software company in the world," Tacker said, "One of their activists was caught today trying to hack into the company's mainframe from his house in Los-Angeles."

Los-Angeles? Nikita frowned, He lives here in the city. The thought of that made her feel a little uneasy. She has heard about the rebels for the first time a very long time ago. They were an idealistic group that objected to many of the new technological inventions. From watching the news she discovered that they never hesitated to use violence to get their way. The group was responsible to several bombings around the world, which miraculously only harmed buildings and property, but not peoples, and also killed some police officers that chased one of their activists.

On the screen she saw a young man tied in electronic handcuffs, lead by police officers. His hair was short blond and he had wrathful brown eyes.

"Why did you do it?" asked Katherine Hutchinson, another popular TV broadcaster, shoving her ultra-sensitive microphone in his face.

"I'll do whatever it takes to stop that world from dying," the young man said angrily into the microphone.

"How does Technocom endanger the world?" Katherine continued.

"Just a couple of months ago 40 percent of the personnel was discarded," He shouted as the policemen ushered him in the police car. "The world is a one big computer, they're creating a world that doesn't need people," he screamed, "it only needs computers, soulless machines..." his screams faded as the police car drove away.

Bradley Tacker's face reappeared on the screen, but Nikita didn't listen to his words. Something in the young activist's speech disturbed her. There was something about what he said that... suddenly there was a soft tinkle at the door. Should be the food. Nikita got up from her couch and opened the door. A little delivery robot stood there. Nikita clicked her credit card number on the little keyboard on the robot's 'head' and the robot buzzed.

"The payment was taken from your account," the metallic voice said, "Thank you for using our service." Nikita closed the door and went to the kitchen.

She opened the few containers and inhaled deeply. The food smelled wonderful and she was starved. She took her TV remote and aimed it at the screen. A few clicks on different button and an image of a cozy fireplace appeared on the huge screen. Nobody had a real, old-fashioned fireplace in the house. All this free fire was far too dangerous. But, still, the sight of the lovely structure and the crackle sound effects gave her a cozy feeling.

She ate her food leisurely, enjoying the different flavors and textures. When she finished, she cracked open her fortune cookie and took out the little piece of paper inside it. Do not miss the opportunity to make your world whole, The little note said. Nikita shrugged and tossed it on the table. What a crap. Her world was entirely whole.

Or was it? Nikita lifted the wrinkled note from the table and gazed at it thoughtfully. Sometimes... she did feel like something was missing in her world, something she couldn't quite put her finger at, but it was there. Maybe she wasn't satisfied in her work, maybe she needed to get out more, and maybe... maybe she was just lonely. Nikita pushed the thought quickly away from her mind. What utter nonsense. She didn't need anything or anyone, she was perfectly fine by herself. She tossed the little note into the garbage can and laughed slightly at her stupidity. It's just a fortune cookie, for god's sake! She thought, I shouldn't take it too seriously.

She yawned. She was very tired after the stressful day at the office, but she still had some work to do. She went to her computer and started working. About an hour later, Nikita removed the VR goggles and rubbed her eyes. Time to go to sleep. She had a long day tomorrow.

*****

At 10:00 o'clock sharp, Nikita stepped into the conference room. She nodded hello to the rest of people present and took her seat. Two minutes later, Paul Wolfe and Madeline Sand stepped into the room. Madeline took her seat but Paul kept standing.

"As you know, this is not a regular meeting," Paul started the meeting, "I've summoned you all here today to discuss a little problem that we have." Nobody commented. Everybody listened attentively. "That problem is with the rebels." He said.

Nikita was a little surprised. "I heard on the news yesterday about the incident with the computer hacker, I thought we stopped him on time." She said. Some of the other directors nodded, they heard about it, too.

"Yes, we stopped him on time, but a damage was done." Paul explained.

"A significant damage?" Julian Brown inquired.

"Not significant, but it doesn't matter," Paul said, "we cannot let any crazy radical group to endanger the company or the welfare of the world."

"What will we do, then?" Nikita asked.

"First of all, we need to improve our computer security," Paul said, turning his gaze to Nikita. "Miss Ross, I believe this is your responsibility," he said. "I'll get right on it," Nikita replied with a slight nod of her head. Paul nodded and continued, "We also suspect there's a leak somewhere in Technocom."

Several surprised glances were shot at him. A leak? In Technocom? Can't be.

Paul proceeded, "We're not sure about it yet, but sometimes it seems that the rebels know a little too much about our security arrangements and computer systems." He paused for a second and then added, "One more thing- if anyone in this company is caught cooperating with the rebels or with any other illegal group, he or she will suffer the results." There was cold fire in his eyes as he spoke, "Treason is intolerable, and we will involve the law enforcement authorities if necessary."

Something about the look in his eyes bothered Nikita. He seemed deadly serious, and it was clear that he would do anything possible to keep the company unharmed.

"I expect to see you all at the party tonight. That will be all." Paul Wolfe closed the meeting and left the room.

Nikita rose from her seat and left the room. She headed toward an open area, which contained several computer terminals that were staffed by the workers of Computers and Technology Section. She had a goal to accomplish, and she was about to accomplish it as soon and as well as she could; Technocom's computer security must be improved. Nikita approached one of the young workers and tapped his shoulder, "Good morning, Simon."

The young man looked up from his computer terminal and blinked. "Good morning, Miss Ross, what can I do for you today?"

Nikita grabbed a chair and sat next to him. "Recently there have been some problems with our security system," she started, "and it's our job to solve these problems."

Simon nodded, "Yeah, I've heard," he replied, "the rebels breached our security system. Mr. Wolfe must be pissed as hell."

Nikita sighed, "Yes, he is, and I want to start working on the problems right away. I want to design a brand new code program to the entire system. Can you help me with that?"

"Yeah, sure," Simon smirked, "we can finally use the new scrambling device it took this company months to produce. It will make the new program unbreachable." He added, "Go to the terminal over there and we'll work on it together." Nikita patted on his shoulder again, "Ok, let's do it."

For the next five hours, Nikita and Simon were working on the new code program. It was a complicated assignment, but it didn't take a very long time due to the sophisticated computer system. The computer did the most of the work, actually. All Nikita and Simon had to do was to give the computer the right instructions to design the new program. It was exhausting.

Nikita leaned back and rubbed her eyes. It was already 16:00 o'clock and she had to go home and get ready to the party tonight. "Are we done here, Simon?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. I have a few more little things to correct, but I'll finish it in the next few minutes."

"And when will the new program be ready to operate?" she questioned.

"It'll only take a few seconds," he answered, typing vigorously.

"Fine. I'll just wait until you finish it." She answered. Nikita stretched her long legs in front of her and yawned. She still had to install the codes into the new program. The code installation was an assignment that had to be done by her personally. No one else, but Paul Wolfe and Madeline Sand, had the necessary clearance to do that. She wanted to catch some sleep before the party tonight so she decided to take a micro-disk with the new program and install the codes at home. She told so to Simon and he smirked, "Big party tonight, huh?"

"Yes." Nikita sighed and wrinkled her nose, "I HATE cocktail parties."

*****

Nikita stepped into her apartment and dropped her bag on the kitchen table. Her head hurt and her shoulder and back muscled were stiff. Even though the chairs in Technocom were designed to prop the back in the best way possible, sitting in one of these chairs for hours was not an enjoyable experience. She was very tired from hours of concentration. She only had two hours to rest and then she had to start getting ready to the party. She took off her shoes and peeled her cloths off on her way to her bedroom. Before sliding into her bed, she set the electronic alarm clock to wake her in exactly two hours. She didn't even bother to wear her sleeping gown. She slid under the sheets in her underclothes and closed her eyes.

At seven o'clock sharp, the alarm clock sounded a loud 'ping' and a quiet voice announced "The hour is seven." Nikita groaned and switched the clock off. She had exactly one hour to get ready and arrive to Silver Gate Hall to attend the party.

She crawled out of her bed toward the shower.

When she went out of the shower, rubbing her face with a soft towel, she turned to her closet and pressed a button. A small panel slid out and Nikita pressed the 'Evening wear' option. A list containing the description and picture of every item in the evening wear wardrobe appeared immediately and Nikita went over it quickly.

She decided to wear a black evening dress. The dress was made of soft silk and it fitted her body perfectly. The bodice was tight, and the collar was decorated with tiny little diamonds. The low neckline gave an enticing view of the tops of her firm breasts and the slit in the left side of the long skirt revealed long smooth legs. Nikita quickly picked a set of black lingerie and put them on, then donned the dress.

She brushed her golden hair until it lay in soft waves upon her shoulders. She put on a pair of elegant black leather heels and glanced at herself in the mirror. She had always thought that she was way too tall for a woman. Many of the men she knew were a lot shorter than her and sometimes it made her feel awkward. She often wished she were more...petite.

She shrugged and took her black wrap. She took her little evening purse and slipped it a few necessities. Suddenly she remembered the disk she brought home from work. Oh...Damn! I was supposed to complete it before the party. She sighed. There was no way she could make it to the office and finish her work before the party. She will have to take the disk with her and, after spending some time in the party, go to the office and install the codes. In the office computer she will be able to finish the work at least twice as fast than at home. She took the disk out from her bag and put it in her purse. She grabbed her wrap and left for the party.

*****

Nikita stepped out of her car and strode toward the Silver Gate Hall. She expected the evening to be unbearably boring and tedious. She has always hated cocktail parties. Every man and woman looked like they were dressed to impress. Everybody looked the same. Crumpling under heavy mounts of jewelry, dressed in the most fashionable clothes they could find.

She sighed. She will only stay there until it was polite enough to leave, and then she'll go to the office to work on the code program. It was slightly cold outside. The cold end-of-September wind chilled her and she quickened her steps towards the hall. As she stepped into the hall, she felt somebody tap on her shoulder. She turned to look and found Julian Brown in front of her. Julian Brown was a man in his fifties, his hair silver gray and his eyes warm brown. "Good evening, Nikita, you look great." Nikita smiled, "Thank you Julian, you don't look so bad yourself." Julian laughed, "Yeah, I'll be breaking a few hearts today, eh?" Nikita joined his laughter. He was a kind, friendly man and he always made her feel comfortable. Sometimes she felt almost like he was her father.

"You'll save a dance for me, won't you?" Julian asked with a smile.

"Sure, Julian," Nikita smiled. He offered her his arm and they stepped together into the hall.

Nikita spent some time mingling. She'd had meaningless conversations with some of the other sections' heads, talked with some of the delegates of the Japanese group and drank plenty of punch. Two hours passed, and Nikita felt like she was going crazy. She glanced at her watch. She'll stay a while longer and then she'll flee from the horrible party and go to the office. She got herself out of an amazingly boring conversation about the world trade market and started to walk slowly toward the exit.

Suddenly she stopped in mid-stride. She had a strange feeling, like somebody was looking at her. She turned her head and saw a man standing across the room, his eyes locked on her. She returned his look. He was medium high, but Nikita could tell he was taller than she was. His hair was a wondrous mixture of brown, red and gold and his shoulders were broad. He was dressed with a simple black suit that fitted his slim body perfectly and accented his lean hips and powerful arms. He held a champagne glass in his hand, but when she raised her eyes to meet his, he put down his glass and strode towards her. No, he didn't stride, the man practically prowled. There was something about his walk, that feline grace that made him look seductive and dangerous simultaneously.

He walked toward her purposely and Nikita's mouth went dry. He stopped in front of her, so close that she could smell a subtle scent of soap and musk mingled together, could see that the color of his eyes was a mysterious jade green.

If it was anyone else that stood so close to her, invading her personal space, Nikita would've felt uncomfortable and pushed them away. But, from some reason, with this man- she didn't care. His close proximity didn't make her feel uncomfortable. It made her feel dizzy.

*****

"Is there something you wanted?" she asked, her voice huskier than usual.

His full lips parted slightly and he gave her a slow smile. "May I have the honor of this dance?" He asked. His voice was so sexy. Slightly husky, with a hint of foreign accent. Nikita stared into his eyes for a few seconds. "Of course," she heard herself say, and instantly she was swept towards the dance floor.

The song played was a quiet one. A wordless tune with a provocative rhythm. The dim lighting in and around the dance floor and the quiet, sensual rhythm made Nikita feel like she was standing under the stars, only night and lights around her. The mysterious man wrapped an arm around her hips and his other hand grasped her right palm gently. Nikita felt a heat wave engulfing her. She has never felt this way before. The feeling was pleasant and intriguing at once. She placed her left hand on his shoulder as they moved slowly to the sensual rhythm. His height was perfect for her. He was slightly taller than she was, so she didn't feel like an amazon, but he wasn't too tall, so she didn't have to strain her neck to look into his eyes. And she stared into his eyes during the entire dance. His eyes were mesmerizing. Mysterious emerald green with tings of blue and gold. And those beautiful eyes were surrounded in dark, thick lashes. His expression was soft and seductive, but there was something more underneath the surface. Sadness, maybe. But the way he looked at her was distracting her profusely. She almost forgot where she was. All she could see was the man in front of her.

"I've never seen you before," Nikita stated, "Who are you?"

The man smiled a little, "I happen to know you work for Technocom. I'm one of the external agents who work with your company. I usually work from Europe, but I've been staying in the US for a few months now."

Nikita nodded slowly, completely aware to his subtle scent, to the light pressure of his hand on her hip. The hand that grasped her palm started to move in a slow, seductive manner. His fingertips brushed her knuckles with the lightest of touches and Nikita couldn't suppress the shiver that coursed through her body. His hand continued moving, his long fingers circling her wrist, lightly caressing her palm. His touch, as light as it was, was arousing her immensely. She decided to make a move of her own. The slow, provocative rhythm of the music combined with a little too much punch she drank during the evening made her a little bolder than usual. She came closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. His hand closed around her palm and she could feel strong muscles ripple in response to her touch. She felt his heartbeats, slow and steady initially, but as she tightened her hold on his hand, the beat grew quicker. She smiled discreetly into his chest. She knew she was affecting him. She relaxed and allowed herself to indulge in the pleasure she felt in his arms.

The song ended and the music died slowly. Nikita was disappointed that she had to leave his strong embrace. She stepped reluctantly out of his arms and raised her eyes to meet his. He took her delicate palm in his strong one and brought it to his lips. Nikita's heart fluttered as his lips touched her knuckles. She swallowed hard and tried to suppress the shudder that attacked her again unexpectedly.

"Merci, Ni-ki-ta" he said in his seductive voice, "you've made my coming to here worth the effort."

Nikita blushed a little and nodded silently. He let go of her hand and moved away slowly. Nikita watched him until he disappeared from her eyes. Only then she realized she never asked him for his name.

Nikita left the dance floor and grabbed her purse from the table she left it on when she accepted the dance invitation from the stranger. She went quickly out of the hall and walked toward her car. She gave the car an order to drive to her office and sank slowly into the car seat. She couldn't get his green eyes out of her mind. She was confused, intrigued and fascinated with him. Never in her lifetime a man made her feel that way. When he touched her, when he merely looked at her from across the room, she felt her knees go weak and her mouth go dry. The feeling was eerie.

Nikita lifted her hand to his face and sniffed. She thought she could smell a delicate scent of musk from the place where his lips touched her hand. She rubbed it thoughtfully against her cheek and breathed deeply. She wondered what it would be like to feel his lush lips on her body, touching her heated skin, tasting her slowly...

Then she remembered, he said 'Merci'. That means he must be French, or at least from French origin. She knew she recognized a hint of foreign accent in his voice. Nikita hated to admit, but the way he said her name turned her on immensely. 'Ni-ki-ta' he said. Punctuating each syllable like he was trying to taste it. Suddenly she realized, he knew her name! And she never told him that. She shrugged, as the head of Computers and Technology Section, many people knew her name. But they usually didn't know what she looked like.

Her young age tended to amaze people. Most of them wondered how, in such a young age, she managed to achieve this powerful position.

"We have arrived the wanted location," the car suddenly announced, shaking her out of her reverie. Nikita shook her head and noticed that the car had halted of front of the Technocom building.

She stepped quickly out of the car and headed toward the building. She wanted to finish her work quickly and take a long night sleep. She entered the dark office and sat in front of one of the computer terminals. "Lights," she commanded and the lights switched immediately. She switched the computer on and grabbed her purse.

Suddenly, a thought came to her mind and she dropped the purse back on the table. She typed quickly in the keyboard and a file opened. It was the personnel file of the external agents who worked for Technocom all around the world. Unfortunately, there were hundreds of them and she found it very difficult to locate a specific face in the myriad of images on the computer screen. She decided to insert some search filters. She typed "Europe" and "French". The computer screen blinked and announced "Twenty-three matches found." Nikita clicked on the "Next" button and scanned the images. She couldn't find the picture on the handsome Frenchman anywhere. She sighed in frustration and a little confusion. If he really was one of the agents who worked for Technocom, he should've been in this database. Maybe he was hired only recently and the files weren't updated yet? Nah, can't be. The files were updated every hour. Even more often if there were any special changes.

Nikita was disappointed. If she couldn't locate him, that means she had no way to see him again. She shrugged and took her purse. She fumbled in for a couple of seconds and then stared inside, stunned. The disk was not there!

*****

She stared into the purse, eyes wide with alarm. The disk was coded, of course, but if somebody was able to break the codes, the entire Technocom computerized security system will be vulnerable. She shook her head and tried to relax. She must've dropped it somewhere. But how? The purse hadn't left her side the entire evening, except... except where she danced with the mystery man!

Did he have something to do with it? Nikita refused to believe it. No man so beautiful could be involved in something illegal. Or could he? No. Impossible. During all the time he danced with her, the purse was on a faraway table. There was no way he could get to the purse without her noticing.

What did it matter now, anyway? She had to think of something and she had to do it fast. Suddenly she felt unsafe in the big empty office. She grabbed her purse with shaky fingers and rose from the chair. "Lights off," she managed to blurt, and the office darkened at once.

She went out from the Technocom building into the cool night air. She took a deep breath and walked toward her car.

Suddenly, a leather covered hand wrapped around her face, and another one wrapped around her waist, pressing her back to a hard body. "Be quiet," a voice whispered in her ear. Nikita felt panic rising in her chest. This could be just an ordinary street criminal, intending to rape her or rob her, or it could be something to do with the missing disk. Nikita wasn't sure which one was worse.

Her panic rose further and she started to struggle, trying to free herself from the steely grasp. The grasp tightened painfully, but as she uttered a soft cry of pain and fear, her attacker softened his grasp and whispered, "I'm not going to hurt you, just come with me." Nikita nodded mutely. His voice was vaguely familiar, low and husky, but she couldn't remember where she'd heard it before. She knew that there's no use to struggle. The attacker was stronger than her and he held her in a secure grip so she couldn't move. Better wait for an opening that will allow her to disable him and escape. She felt a cold metal device pressed to her neck, a little prickle and then everything went dark.

The man felt her lithe body sag in his arms and he picked her up. A black van stopped next to him and the back door slip open with a hiss. He carried her inside and laid her carefully on the van's floor. "Go," he commanded, and the car moved, driving into the night.

*****

Nikita blinked slowly. Her head ached and there was a horrible taste in her mouth. She had no idea where she was, no idea what happened to her. She was in a small room with wooden walls and no windows. She was lying on a bed and her hands were locked to each other with an electronic metal lock. She shook her head slowly and groaned. It hurt. Then everything suddenly came back to her. She remembered the party, the missing micro-disk and the man that commanded her to be quiet. So that's what happened. She was kidnapped. She wondered who the kidnappers were. They could be ordinary criminals, wanting money. But more likely- she was taken by the rebels. Everything was clear to her now. They stole the disk when she wasn't looking and now they kidnapped her so they'll be able to-

"Good morning," a soft voice interrupted her thoughts.

She rose quickly, squinting in the bright fluorescent light. In front of her stood the man from the party.

"You!" she called, shocked and angered at once.

The man nodded and gave her a small smile, "Yes, me."

"So you're one of the rebels." She murmured.

His green eyes flashed momentarily in admiration before his face straightened in a blank mask. "Very well. You figured it out quickly."

Nikita snorted, "The disk disappears and immediately after I'm being kidnapped. Can't be a coincidence, doesn't take a genius to figure that out." She didn't want to admit it, but she enjoyed his approval. From some unknown reason, it mattered to her what he thought about her.

The man didn't say anything for a few seconds and then he said, "Come. We're going somewhere."

"Do you mind uncuffing me before we do?" she outstretched her bound hand in front of her.

"I think I better leave it on. Safety reasons."

"Can you at least tell me your name?" she asked.

"Full of questions today, aren't you?" his full pink lips twitched a little.

Nikita straightened her chin defiantly, "I just want to know whom I'm talking to."

The man nodded, his expression a little amused, "You can call me Michael."

Michael, Nikita thought. A name of an angel. And he also looked like one. He was as handsome as she remembered him from the party. Reddish-brown hair, curling in soft waves around beautiful face; perfect masculine body, sleekly muscled and strong looking; sensual mouth, lips as pink as a coral and perfectly sculpted; and emerald eyes, so alluring, yet hiding something. Sadness, weariness, like he had been fighting the world for all of his life. She said nothing to him, though. She got off the bed and marched toward the door, ignoring him purposely.

They walked through a maze of dark corridors until they reached a metal door. Michael typed a code in a panel near the door and pulled it open. He stepped aside and motioned her to get into the room, "After you."

Nikita stepped inside, presenting a front of a false bravado. She will never let him know, but she was scared. According to what she'd heard on the news, the rebels would do anything to achieve their goals. Including using violence.

She swallowed and looked around. The room was a brightly-lit area with dozens of computers in it. A few people sat in front of the computer terminals, working quietly. She saw a young man, almost a boy, with a cropped hair and a pair of glasses. She also noticed a thin man, in his thirties, with shoulder-length blond hair. She turned her attention to the computers.

Nikita surveyed the technological equipment in the room. In contrast to the old wood walls and the old-fashioned light bulbs in the place, the computers were very advanced. It seemed to her that the rebels were very well equipped when it came to computers. It didn't surprise her, though. In an almost totally computerized world it was very easy to get computers. Spare parts today were ridiculously cheap and it was a piece of cake to assemble a computer if you knew what you were doing. Actually, getting a computer was a lot cheaper than getting food.

"Please, sit," the green-eyed man that she now knew as Michael pulled a chair from a nearby table and offered it to her.

"I'd rather stand," she said stubbornly. She will die before she'll admit a weakness to them.

Michael shrugged, "As you wish." He then looked into her eyes. She returned him a challenging gaze, and didn't say a word.

"Do you know why you're here, Ni-ki-ta?" he asked, in his soft, sensual voice. Nikita felt shivers run along her spine. He called her 'Ni-ki-ta' again. Why does she feel like a blushing schoolgirl every time he says that?

"I guess you stole the disk of our new code program and now you need my help decoding it," she answered. No use playing dumb. Better yet to put her cards on the table.

Michael nodded, "That's right."

"Well, you can forget it," she snapped, "I'll never help you. You may as well take the f---ing disk and shove it because it's useless to you without the codes."

Michael tired to stifle his smile. She had guts. And she wasn't afraid to talk back to them, even thought she was the captive in this case. Michael was reluctant to admit it, but he liked her. She had insolence, courage and, of course, she was more beautiful than any woman he has ever seen was. He gazed at her. Her long, smooth legs, her angry blue eyes, her blond her that shined like a halo around her face, her lush pink lips... how he longed to taste these lips, to feel their texture. Michael blinked and snapped back to the present. This woman affected him in a way no woman and, actually, nobody had ever affected him. It was an exciting and intriguing feeling at once.

"We will be happy to have you cooperate," Michael said quietly, "otherwise, we will have to use unpleasant means to force you to talk."

Nikita felt cold fear wash over her but she maintained a straight face. "So what are you going to do?" she asked, "beat me up until I talk, or use a brainscan to reveal the details without me having to speak at all?"

The look in Michael's eyes was irritated, "In spite of what they say about us on the TV, we're not violent."

Nikita looked at him. He seemed honest. Why would he lie to her anyway in this situation? "Really," she asked, a little skeptical.

"Yes, really," he replied firmly, "we will not beat you up or abuse you in any way. As for the brainscan, if you didn't know this procedure can cause brain damage. That's why we never use it."

Nikita was surprised. What he had just told her was contrasted to everything she has ever heard about the rebels. What reason does he have to lie? She asked herself again. Was he trying to regain her trust so she would cooperate with them? No, it doesn't make any sense.

"What will you do to me then?" she asked.

Michael looked at her in a cool green gaze. "Truth serum," he answered.

Nikita shifted in the chair uneasily. If he was telling the truth, they will extract the codes out of her, even without her cooperation.

She shrugged nonchalantly, "Even if you do that," she drawled, "you will still be unable to decode the disk."

Michael sat in a chair in front of her and stippled his elegant fingers, "And why is that?" he asked.

"Because," she smiled mockingly at him, "the decoding can't be complete without the main system code. And this code is only known to one person- the head of Technocom- Mr. Paul Wolfe."

Michael frowned a little. This was not part of his plan.

Nikita noticed his expression and laughed, "If you're planning on kidnapping him, good luck. He has more guards than anyone ever had."

Michael considered the new information for a moment and then made up his mind. He rose from his chair and glanced toward Nikita. "Come with me," he ordered quietly, and she followed.

He brought her back to the room she found herself in when she woke up.

"What are you going to do with me?" she asked in a quiet voice, avoiding his gaze.

Michael tried unsuccessfully to catch her gaze. He didn't want to scare her more than he already had, so he decided to be honest. "We'll interrogate you and then let you go," He answered.

She finally raised her eyes to look at him, "Let me go?" she asked, surprise and suspicion showing in her eyes, "Aren't you afraid I'll go to the police?"

Michael shrugged, "What will you tell them? That the notorious rebels kidnapped you? You don't know where you are and you have no information to give them that they don't already know."

Nikita considered it for a while and then replied, "I know how you look. Obviously the police didn't know that until now or you wouldn't have appeared in the party."

Michael nodded a little ruefully, "It doesn't matter. I don't plan on leaving here anytime soon."

Nikita averted her gaze and lay down on the bed. She was tired. All the excitement in the last few hours exhausted her. She lay back and closed her eyes, unable to find a comfortable position with the lock on her hands.

Suddenly, She felt his warm hands touching hers. A heat wave engulfed her and made her skin flush, and then she heard a soft click and the lock were released from her hands. She opened her eyes and looked straight into his green ones. She was shocked to find out how close he was. His face was merely several inches from hers. So close that she could almost feel the softness of his lips. He gently took off the lock and stepped back.

"Get some rest," he murmured, "we'll continue in a short while." Then he turned to leave.

"Thank you," her quiet voice stopped him before he had the chance to leave the room. He nodded without looking back and stepped out of the room, locking the room behind him. As he was out of the room he stopped to compose himself. Why was it that every time he was close to her, he felt this sudden rush of emotion wash over him? He had no idea.

She thanked him. Why did she do that? He almost wanted to laugh at the irony. He kidnapped her and he was about to drug her in order to get the codes to the disk. And she thanked him. Michael tried to take his mind off her and strode toward the central computer room.

He entered the room and went straight to his most talented computer genius.

"Birkoff, what do you have so far?" he asked calmly.

Birkoff shook his head, "I scanned the disk. I think she was telling the truth. There are two layers of security to this disk. I'm afraid that she only has the codes to the first one."

Michael tapped on his lower lip with his forefinger, "Can you crack it without the codes?"

Birkoff sighed, "Maybe. I don't know. Get everything you can from her and I'll try to do the rest. I'm afraid it will take a while."

Michael patted his shoulder briefly, "Do whatever you can. I'll question her in about two hours."

Birkoff arched his eyebrows questioningly, "Two hours? Why the delay? The sooner we start, the sooner we finish."

"She needs the rest," Michael said quietly, and then added, "I'll be in my quarters. I'll take care of the questioning." Then he left.

Birkoff stared at his retreating back. He was surprised. Michael has never ever done this before, delaying an interrogation simply because that the captive 'needed the rest'. There was something about her that made Michael act differently than usual. That was weird.

*****

Nikita felt a strange sensation on her face. As if someone was touching her, caressing her cheek. She opened her eyes and found Michael kneeling near her bed, his callused palm touching her softly. When he noticed she was awake, he yanked his hand back quickly and got up from the crouching position he was in. For a glimpse of an eye, Nikita saw something flash in his eyes. But, as soon as it appeared, it was gone, and the blank mask was back in place. The man was a master in hiding his feelings, she was sure of that.

"Let's go," he commanded, "it's time."

Nikita swallowed, she didn't ask time to what. She already knew. She got up slowly from the bed and started walking toward the door. His hand on her waist stopped her and she turned around questioningly. In his hand he held the lock that captured her hands earlier. "If you promise to behave until we get there, I won't use it. Agree?"

"Agree. Where are we going exactly?"

Michael opened the door and motioned her to step out of the room. "You'll see."

They walked again through a maze of corridors until they arrived to a small room, with white walls and a smell of antiseptic. He told to sit in a metal chair in the middle of the room. She obeyed and he fastened small metal locks around her wrists and ankles. A woman in white came in, holding a syringe in her hand. "Is she ready?" she asked Michael and he nodded. The woman approached her and quickly and efficiently injected her the material and stepped back. "It will take about 3 hours before the material affects." Michael nodded, "Thank you." The woman left.

Nikita watched him take a small panel and typing something. He left the room and closed the door behind him. After several hours of sitting in the chair, suddenly Nikita felt a strange feeling engulf her. She felt like her mind was floating, her limbs were light and free. She felt like she was flying. She saw blurry images before her and she heard a faint sound of a door opening and closing. A pair of green eyes looked at her.

"Ni-ki-ta?" a voice asked. Nikita giggled. "What is it?" the voice asked again. "You call me Ni-kee-taah," she murmured, "Nobody calls me that." She felt good actually; she was floating in a boundless world, happy and free.

"Nikita, I need you to concentrate," the voice said, "I need the codes to Technocom's new code program." Codes? Why would he want to talk about codes instead of flying? Nikita wandered. Her vision cleared a little and she saw a man standing in front of her. He was pretty, and she felt a need to tell him that. "You're cute," she announced and his pink lips parted slightly in surprise. She liked his lips. They were as pink as a pearl and looked so soft.

"Nikita, the codes." He said firmly. Codes? Why not? She smiled, "MT947Kl0" she murmured. The man typed something quickly in a panel in his hand. "Birkoff, do you get this," he asked.

Funny, Nikita thought, her head still spinning, there was nobody else in the room, who was he talking to? He turned his gaze back to her. "Go on, Nikita. Two more codes to go." Nikita shook her head, something danced in the back of her head, in the back of her consciousness, something was bothering her.

Michael surveyed her closely. It seemed that the effect of the drug was fading. He will have to get it over with soon. "Nikita, tell me the second code," he commanded. "Umm.. TL54Y332" she murmured. That feeling in the back of her mind strengthened, something was not right.

"Nikita, one more code and I'll get you out of here," he said on a gentle voice. She mumbled something unintelligible. Michael leaned closer to hear and. Nikita lifted her eyes. His face was very close to her now, almost touching. "Nikita, tell me the last code," he said softly. She looked into his emerald green eyes and suddenly leaned forward and kissed him.

*****

Michael's eyes widened with shock as her lips touched his. For a few seconds he was too shocked to move away, but as her tongue caressed his lips temptingly, trying to slip inside, he pulled away from her, his breathing slightly erratic. He turned his back to her. Maybe taking over her questioning wasn't such a good idea. He should've let someone else do it.

He took a few moments to compose himself and turned back to face her. She had a dazed grin on her face and Michael realized that he had to get the last code soon before she passes out from the effect of the drug. He leaned carefully toward her, maintaining a safe distance this time and asked again, "Nikita, what is the last code?"

Nikita started to drift again, she was floating... flying above the ground... codes again? Why do they matter anyway? She smiled hazily at the man in front of her as everything went dim. "F987Y142," she mumbled. Then she felt gentle hands unlocking the locks around her wrists and ankles and then strong arms lifted her of the chair and carried her away. Now she really felt like she was floating.

*****

Nikita yawned and rubbed her eyes. She felt like her there was a really big rock on her head. She opened her eyes slowly and started at a familiar ceiling. She blinked and raised her head in surprise. She was at her house. She couldn't remember how she'd got there. Her eyes traveled across the room until her gaze stopped on her little black evening purse. Suddenly she remembered everything. The party... the disk... the kidnapping... and Michael.

She sat up in her bed, feeling slightly confused. She was still dressed in her evening gown but her hair was disheveled and totally messy. "What day is today, anyway?" she wondered aloud. Her bedside clock tinkled and announced, "Today is September 27th, 2216."

"What time is it?" she murmured. "The time is 7:03 am." The clock answered.

Nikita sighed and lay back. That meant she had some time before she had to go to work. She had to figure out what to do. Her first thought was, of course, to tell the police all that's happened to her. But from some reason she had doubts. When she thought of the possibility that Michael and his supporters could be captured, she felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't want them to be captured. But... there was always a but. They were criminals. Yes, she decided, the right thing to do is to go to the police.

She went out of her bed and hopped into the shower. 20 minutes later she was in her car, moving toward the local police department. But, on her way, she hesitated. Maybe she should go to the office first, notify everybody that they have a possible security breach.

"Change course," she commanded the car, "Drive to the office."

"Changing course immediately," the car announced, "estimated arrival time: 20 minutes."

The car moved easily through the heavy traffic and stopped in front of the Technocom building.

Nikita went out of the car and rushed into the building. When she entered her office, Simon welcomed her with a smile. "Hey there," he said, "the new security system is almost done. Did you install the codes?"

"Not now, Simon," she murmured and almost ran toward one of the computer terminals, bending toward it. She clicked a few buttons quickly and the image of Paul Wolfe appeared on the screen. "Good morning, Miss Ross," he greeted, "What is it?"

"Sir, I have to see you right away. It's an urgent matter," she explained quickly.

"Fine. I'll be in the conference in 5 minutes," he answered and disconnected.

Nikita sighed and straightened her aching back.

"What happened?" Simon asked her.

"Trust me," she murmured, "You don't wanna know."

"No, really, what?" he asked, his expression a little worried.

Nikita rubbed her temples with her fingertips, "We may have a severe security problem."

"With the new system? Nah, can't be."

"I'll explain later, I have to go," she replied and went to the conference room. In two minutes, Paul Wolfe and Madeline Sand arrived there, serious expressions on both of their faces.

"What is the matter?" Paul demanded, "You said it's urgent."

"Yes, it is, Sir." Nikita replied and continued, "I have a reason to believe that our security system is in a real danger of breaching."

Paul frowned, "By who?"

"The rebels." Nikita took a deep breath and told him the whole story. The man in the party, the kidnapping and the drugging.

Paul shook his head, "This is not good." "Have you notified the police?" Madeline interjected.

"No, I haven't," Nikita replied, "I thought it's better to let you know first, so we can start working on the security system."

"Fine," Paul said, his expression grim, "Go now and tell the police. I'll tell about it to your Section and they'll start working on it right away."

"Thank you, Sir," Nikita replied and went out of the room.

*****

The door opened and Nikita walked slowly into her house. She was so tired. She spent three hours at the police station, giving the cops every little detail she remembered about the night of the party and all that followed. They questioned her about the people she saw, the place she was taken to, the effects of the drug they used on her and more and more. She gave them a detailed description of the mysterious Michael and the few more people she saw.

When they searched for a person with Michael's description in their database and found nothing. Clean sheet. That means that he wasn't a criminal, Nikita thought to herself. Or maybe he just covered his tracks well, she thought, somewhat downheartedly. However, they did have details about the young computer expert she saw there. His name was Seymour Birkoff. He was only 23, and was convicted in several computer crimes several years earlier. Apparently, he broke into the mainframe of the National Security Agency and the FBI.

There was another man they managed to identify. The thin blond man with the high forehead. His name was Rene Dian. His name was mentioned in the police database in reference to a bombing incident a few years ago in Paris.

Nikita rubbed her eyes and yawned. After the questioning was over she went back to the office. Her section worked for several hours on improving the security system, trying to prevent another breaching. But the truth was, it didn't look good. Nikita knew that if the rebels decoded the disk, the Technocom security system will be wide open for them.

Nikita yawned again, dropped her bag on the kitchen table and opened the fridge. She peeked inside and grabbed a can of yogurt. She took a spoon from the drawer and sat to the table. She had no appetite but her stomach rumbled with hunger. She tossed the half-finished can to the trash and left the kitchen. All she wanted now was to take a hot shower and crawl into bed.

*****

His hands caressed her heated flesh, setting every nerve on fire, his lips traveled on her body, touching and tasting every inch ... his warm breath caressed her neck and she felt his lips touching the throbbing pulse there. Her hands encountered soft skin and hard muscles as they roamed on his body, touching, memorizing every curve... His mouth moved upward and she felt soft lips and warm tongue capturing her mouth... His soft touch made her body quiver in ecstasy and she wrapped her legs around him, moaning his name...

Nikita woke with a start. She was breathing heavily and her body was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. She still felt strong, incredibly erotic, ripples course through her body. She was surprised to find out that her nipples hardened and grew sensitive to touch.

It's been a long time since she'd had this kind of dreams. And it certainly was the first one she dreamt about...him. Nikita wiped the sweat off of her forehead and tried to bring some order to the chaos that permeated her mind and body. She knew for certain the identity of her imagined lover. It was him. It was Michael. And that dream felt so real, oh, so erotically real. It was almost disturbing, she felt like he was actually there, in her dream.

"Light," she murmured and the lamp by her bed switched on and cast soft light around her. This dream, this... fantasy made Nikita feel a little uncomfortable. She had only seen him once. Twice, if you count the party and the kidnapping two different times. What was that made her feel about him like she has never felt to any man before?

Was it only his physical beauty? No, Nikita dismissed the possibility. Yes, he looked good, maybe even the most attractive man she has ever seen... her body quivered as she remembered the feel of his strong muscles under the clothes he was wearing in the party and the heady taste of his lips... but there was something else, something more to it. No one, no one, in her life, had affected her like Michael had.

Maybe it was the sense of danger that surrounded him? Maybe the closeness to a very well known, and obviously very dangerous, outlaw is what gave her a sense of excitement. No, not quite. Nikita gave up the attempt to try and analyze the situation. It was just a physical reaction, she told herself, he is a handsome, tempting man and he has an aura of danger around him. Feeling a little better, she ordered the light to go off and went back to sleep.

*****

Michael lay on his bed in his quarters, staring at the ceiling. It was already 2:00 AM and he still couldn't sleep. A certain pair of blue eyes kept hunting his thoughts, his dreams, making it very hard for him to concentrate on anything else but the memory of a certain beautiful woman. He kept replying their kiss in his mind. The few moments in time when she pressed her soft lips against his, making his body respond forcefully. His most recent dream was disturbingly arousing.

He dreamed he was making love to her, kissing every inch of her divine body, feeling her legs wrap around his back and her hands touch his heated skin, listening to her soft moans and whimpers... The dream felt so real, so incredibly, erotically real. Like he was actually sharing it with her.

Why is she hunting me like that? Michael could not find the answer to that question. It wasn't just her beauty, he knew that, there was something about her that made him feel like he never felt before in his life. Suddenly, another thing occupied his mind except for the rebellion.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door, shaking him from his thoughts.

"Yes?" he answered.

A young man with black hair and eyes entered the room, "Sir, we have a problem."

Michael got up from the bed and put on his shirt, "What is it?" he asked.

"The food, Sir. It's running out." The young man replied, his look serious.

Michael thought for a moment and answered, "I'll take care of it. Gather the team, we'll go out tomorrow night."

"Yes, Sir." The young man left.

*****

"Good morning, Nikita," Simon greeted, taking off his VR goggles to look at her.

"Good morning," she murmured back, "how is the new coding program going?"

Simon stretched and sighed, "Not so good. It's going slowly, way too slowly. If the rebels find out the rest of the codes before we finish this, we're toast. They'll have easy access to all of our system."

Nikita closed her eyes for a moment. She felt guilty. It was her fault that the disk was stolen. She was supposed to watch it, never let it out of her sight, the future of the company was depended on a good security.

"Hey," Simon patted her shoulder and she turned her eyes to look at him. The look in his eyes was sympathetic. "It's not your fault, you know," he said.

"Thanks, Simon," she sighed. She grabbed a chair and sat in front of another computer terminal next to him. "I'll help you with it, maybe we'll get it done faster together."

Almost twelve hours later Nikita yawned and took off the VR goggles. Her eyes burned form sitting next to the computer for hours. And she was starving. She hasn't been eating all day, she was too absorbed in her work that she had no time to eat. So was Simon. "I'm beat," he announced, yawning widely, "I think we better call it off for tonight."

"You're right," Nikita agreed, "I'm starved. I feel I could eat an elephant."

"Me, too. How about a dinner in Pizza Hut?" Simon suggested.

Nikita pondered it for a moment. "Sure, why not," she agreed, "we deserve it after those long hours sitting in front this stupid screen."

"Cool," Simon smiled and rose from his chair, "let's go."

When they were on their way out the building, Nikita recalled that she was supposed to check on the progress in one of the other sections. "Wait for me downstairs," she asked Simon, "I'll be down in a minute."

She approached one of the offices and entered. A gray-heard old man lifted his head to look at her. "Hi, Sugar," he grinned at her, "what's shakin'?"

Nikita smiled warmly at him, "Hi, Walter." Walter was one of Technocom's most expert technicians. He was known for being quick, skillful and a little cranky. But he was always nice to Nikita.

"What's up, Walter?" she asked with a smile.

"No complaints, sugar, no complaints."

"So, do you have something new to show me?" she asked.

"Always straight to busyness, eh, sugar?" he laughed, "yes, as a matter of fact I do have something to show you." He wiped his greasy hands and rose form his chair. He took a small device off of a shelf and presented it to her. Nikita took the object and observed it. It was a little black sphere with a red flickering light.

"What is it?" she questioned.

"That's my last invention," he said proudly, "It's a brand new thermo-detector."

"What does it do?" she asked.

"Here, let me show you," he said and took the object of her hand. He pressed on a tiny gray button in the little device and the light flickered more rapidly. "It traces a trail you walk and transfer the data to your computer. I've already had the program installed into your computer, so you can reconstruct the data anytime you want."

"So, basically, it's a tracking device?"

"Something like that, yeah. Go ahead, try it tonight."

Nikita smiled to him as she slipped the device into her pocket, "Thanks, Walter, see you later."

"Bye, sugar, have a nice evening."

She gave his a quick peck on the cheek and left.

*****

Nikita and Simon stepped out of the pizza restaurant. "Good night, Simon," Nikita waved to him while walking towards her car.

"Bye, Nikita, and good night," he answered. He got into his car and drove away. Nikita was about to do the same when suddenly she had a weird feeling. Her body tinged with awareness as if somebody was watching her. She surveyed the darkening street around her. Something was wrong, she could feel it. There was something in the shadows that moved in the darkness that just didn't feel right. Suddenly, she saw a movement of a big vehicle in an alley near the restaurant. She threw her purse into her car and went to the alley to see what it was. She saw a shadowed figure, clad in all black standing in the alley. There were some more dark figures near him. She looked at the truck that parked there. It was one of Pizza Hut's supply trucks. One of the figures approached the back of the track and put something on the door.

"Everybody, stand back," he whispered loudly and then there was a loud explosion and the back door of the truck blasted open.

"Everybody, move now!" said a familiar voice. Nikita averted her eyes to look at the man that uttered those words. His head was covered in a black ski mask and he was slightly hidden in the darkness, but Nikita recognized immediately the husky, accented voice and the strong body. Michael.

Nikita realized that those were the rebels, robbing a supply truck. Why would they do that?

The loud noise of police sirens was approaching briskly. Michael turned suddenly around and saw her. Their eyes locked. Nikita looked at him, with a little apprehension. Michael returned her stare without saying a word. The approaching noise of the sirens seemed to shake him out of his reverie and he turned back to the rest of the men. "Take all you can and go," he commanded, rushing to help them taking the heavy boxes out of the truck.

"Police! Stop immediately!" a voice shouted towards them. Nikita turned her head and saw two police officers running towards the alley.

"Leave, now!" Michael commanded, lifting a heavy box and attempting to run with it. Nikita turned her head just in time to see one of the cops holding his laser gun and pointing it to Michael.

She didn't realize what she was doing. "Michael, be careful," she screamed and slammed her body against his, the box falling down from his hands. She felt a sharp pain in her side and collapsed into Michael's arms, her vision blurring when she finally lost her consciousness.

Michael looked in horror at the still body in his arms. He could hear the cops approaching and the sound of shooting. He knew he had to get her out of there immediately. Michael hoisted her on his shoulder and ran towards the black van. "Move!" he ordered and the van disappeared into the night.