Threats? Messages? Gina sucked in a breath through her teeth. What in hell hasn't he told me?

"Do you have any idea who the outside source is, Mr. Xanacovich?" another male voice asked.

"I can't imagine who would do something like this."

"With Xanac Corp's ties to the initial development of detectors," the first man said, "it could be a pro-Shifter terrorist group."

Terrorists? Gina held her breath. Human groups against Shifter exterminations were known to engage in terrorist activities. Had one of those taken aim at her family's company because years ago Xanac had been instrumental in developing the technology that could identify Narava's shape changing species, no matter what form a Shifter took?

She could understand why Shifters and humans against the exterminations feared the equipment. She had mixed feelings about detectors. She didn't at all subscribe to the views of the Shifter Research Center that painted Shifters as a dangerous, parasitic animal likely to wipe out the human population on Narava if not exterminated. She was patently against the destruction of an entire species. But neither was she completely comfortable with the idea of Shifters being able to be anywhere-or anything-they wanted without humans knowing. Especially if the rumors, and her suspicions, were true and Shifters were more intelligent than SRC claimed.

Xanac's research had also revealed a way to scan for a previously undetectable, fatal Naravan-based blood virus, and in the end, that was the most important element to her. But would Xanac's contribution to detectors be enough to push one of the pro-Shifter groups to terrorist threats?
"Xanac Corp.'s contribution to the development of detectors was minimal and before my tenure as CEO. Why hit our R&D team now?" Her father's voice was quiet, strained, as he eerily seemed to echo her own thoughts.

"To highlight their cause? To move interest away from this rumored Guard report to a topic more immediate?"

Guard report? A series of news briefs flashed through her mind. Isabo Kelly's treasure is a sweater string. Rumors had been flying over the last two weeks about the findings of an undercover Guard concerning Shifters and one of the Shifter support groups. Each side of the volatile argument assumed the Guard's report would support their view-either to continue the exterminations or to end them. She was hoping for the latter.

"That situation only started two weeks ago," her father said. "I've been getting threats for a month."

"Something to do directly with the M-SID research then? The threats are to get you to stop the work."

Gina's eyes widened. Her father had told these two strangers about her M-SID work? Without coming to her first? Threats notwithstanding, he should never, ever have mentioned M-SIDs to anyone outside of Xanac. And he knew why even more than she did. Her teeth ground together...

Follow these links for more teasers by the fabulous authors of the DREAM QUEST anthology:

Lady of Maragorn by J.C. Wilder - http://www.jcwilder.com/books/maragorn.html
To Call the Moons by Megan Sybil Baker - http://www.starfreighter.com/Moons.htm
Knight Moves by CB Scott - http://www.cbscottbooks.com/Dreamquest.htm
The Girl in the Box by Janet Miller - http://www.janetlynnmiller.com/pub_dreamquest.html
The Beauty in the Beast by K.G. McAbee - http://www.kgmcabee.net/dreamquest.htm
Through the Woods by Ellen Edgar - http://hometown.aol.com/ellensdreamquest/index.html
Kallaayt's Tale by Rosemary Laurey - http://www.rosemarylaurey.com/html/other_books.htm#dreamquest
Smoke and Mirrors by Donna MacMeans - http://www.macmeans.com/donna.htm

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