Prologue

Fire. Beautiful with its kaleidoscope of colors and heat. Dangerous with it's deadly intensity. It's flames devouring a building like a tiger devours it's prey. A killer. It could also be a liberator. So, when an art museum went up in smoke one autumn day, there was one man who didn't mourn the lost treasures of antiquity. He celebrated the fire's power and destruction. He celebrated his own liberation. A man of many last names whose given name had never changed. George. He walked away from the burning ashes a free man for the first time in months. Or was it years? He wasn't sure. He didn't care. His passions had always been money and power. Now that he was free, he was going to rebuild his empire based on the spoils of larceny on a grand scale. And damnation to any who stood in his way.

**********************************

"Kermit? Aren't you done yet? I don't think the Captain will be too happy if her future husband doesn't show up for their own daughter's birthday party." Peter Caine stood in the office doorway of their firm, Shaolin Eyes, waiting for his partner, co-owner and best friend.

"In a minute, Peter. Let me set up a trace before we go. I just got a lead and I've been trying to catch this guy for two months. He's good. He's very good." His fingers flew over the keyboard like a concert pianist's fingers over the keys of a baby grand.

"Mr. Computer Hacker Extraordinaire who's been demanding ransoms from big corporations and then crashing their systems when they don't pay?"

"Oh, yeah. He's hit four firms this month alone. Our client is starting to get antsy. Figures it's just a matter of time before they reach number one on the hit parade. They're right. Besides, I want to nail this guy before the wedding next week."

"Well, there won't be a wedding if the Captain kills you. Of course, she could just fracture your jaw like she did that councilman. Might make it hard to say 'I do' with your mouth wired shut, but what the hell."

"Real funny, Peter. Okay, tracer in place. Birthday gift in hand. Let's hit the road."

******************************************
"Where in the hell is Kermit? He was supposed to be here half an hour ago." Karen Simms, soon to be Karen Griffin, was angry as hell. With Holly's birthday falling on Christmas Eve, her days were too short and her temper even shorter. Planning a birthday party for her three year old daughter, wrapping Christmas presents, and taking care of last minute wedding plans for their nuptials on New Year's Eve was starting to kill any holiday spirit she had. Why she'd ever agreed to be married just a month after his proposal, during the holiday season no less, she would never know. *Just admit it Karen, you were afraid that Mr. Afraid-of-Commitment Griffin would get cold feet if you waited too long.*

"He'll be here, Sis. Give the man a break." Karen's sister Lauren, the middle girl of the three Grant girls: Karen, Lauren, and Kim, had come down for the wedding and stood in the kitchen putting the final touches on her niece's birthday cake. "It's not like we need him to feed the hoard of 101st crew in your living room. We have their stomachs well in hand. Your perfectly capable son, Todd, is watching Holly. And your sisters are here to make your life Nirvana. What more could a mother and bride-to-be ask for?"

"In other words, chill out." Karen reached over to hug her sister and kiss her hair. "Thanks, girl. Where's Kim?"

"In the living room chatting up what's-his-name --- Broderick. That girl is incorrigible."

"Broderick? He's too old for her."

"Tell *her* that. Come on, let's get back to the guest of honor."

*********************************************
Wrapping paper flew like confetti as birthday presents for Holly and Christmas gifts for the precinct gang were dutifully doled out and received with the hit gift of the evening being Kermit's gift to Holly- a replica of the squad room of the 101st with everyone represented by Ty Corp.'s Beanie Babies. After waving the full, happy, and gift laden precinct gang to their respective cars, Kermit was finally ensconced in Karen's library, accessing the firm's computer to check on his trace. "Let's see who we've picked up with our little trap, shall we?"

*What's with the monitor?* Taking off his glasses to see the screen unfiltered, he tried the on/off button to clear the strange glow coming from the monitor but the screen didn't collapse to a black display. Instead, a message started to flash across the screen unbidden and a light gray mist of smoke emerged to snake it's way around his neck and pull him into the computer. All that remained were the green glasses that glowed
with supernatural fire.

**********************************************

At four in the morning, Christmas Day, Karen Simms came to retrieve her night-owl computer wizard and his promised Christmas present from their computer room. This was going to be the Christmas where he *finally* told her where he went every year and she didn't want to wait till he finished whatever investigation had kept him from bed all night. Stealing into the room, hoping to catch Kermit snoring in front of the computer, she was the one startled by the scene. Or lack of a scene. No Kermit could be found.

"I don't believe this. He left." She crossed her arms and shook her head in frustration. "Damn him. I knew he wouldn't tell -" She stopped in her tracks as she spied his green glasses on the chair by the desk. They were glowing. Glowing. Slowly approaching the chair, Karen reached out to touch the frames then jumped back with a small yelp as her hands were burned by the green glasses. *What is going on here?*

Even weirder was the computer itself which was flashing a message which immediately chilled her heart. 'The spider is caught in his own web."

*********************************************

30 minutes later, Karen's pacing was all that could be heard in the small room as Peter Caine did his own sort of investigating. Laying his hands on the screen and keyboard, he frowned as he felt a force of evil he had come in contact with it before but couldn't quite place. Why couldn't he remember? Pop would know. He didn't know what to say.

"Do you sense anything, Peter?" Karen asked anxiously. She hadn't wanted to wake everyone else up in the house for something they couldn't help with so she & Peter were alone.

"No. It's familiar but I can't tell what the force is or where it came from. It's like Kermit got sucked into the computer."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know. I'm sorry, Captain."

Karen slumped into the chair that had so recently held Kermit's frame, trying to feel his essence in the last place he had been.

"I'll go get Lo Si and bring him back. What he doesn't know about battling evil forces isn't worth knowing. We'll find Kermit, Captain. I promise."

She nodded absently without really seeing him. Just then, a cry wailed through the house, waffling down from the stairs. Karen sighed.

"Holly. I better see what's bothering her." She laid her hand on Peter's arm as she slowly raised herself up from the chair. "You have a key, just let yourself in when you return. I'll probably still be with Holly in the rocking chair." She turned to go but stopped at the door. "Thank you, Peter."

Peter silently watched her go out the door. *I'll keep my promise, Captain.*

*****************************************

Kermit Griffin woke up to find himself in a cell. He rolled his eyes and sighed. *Where in the hell am I* Absently reaching up to finger his glasses, he realized that they weren't there. Damn. *I took them off to look at the monitor, and then ......* He wasn't sure what had happened next.

Finding himself unbound, he rose slowly from the floor and walked around the cell, testing the bars in front of him for weaknesses.

Kermit didn't hear a door opening or footsteps walking toward him but suddenly an accented voice came out of the darkness surrounding his cell.

"There is no way out."

The owner of the voice stepped out of the darkness into Kermit's field of vision. Kermit stared at the face in front of him for a few seconds before he finally accessed a name from the back of his mind. "George."

George stepped closer to his caged prisoner. "I'm gratified that you remember me."

"A museum heist. Revenge seeking mummies. What's not to remember?"

"The danger of getting in my way."

Kermit suddenly remembered what he was doing when he was grabbed. "You're the guy that's been hacking and sabotaging computer databases."

Sabotage is such an ugly word."

"So's extortion."

"Touché." George bowed slightly. "Though I would prefer to be considered a security consultant. For a small fee, I protect a corporation's precious data from thieves and vandals."

"Holding their data for ransom is not my idea of security."

"Life can be seen from many points of view, Mr. Griffin, but I can't allow your worldview to conflict with mine. I need your investigation to cease until I have finished my business and so here you are. But, I am curious, don't you want to know how you got here?" He started to circle the cell observing Kermit as a hunter does fallen prey.

Kermit's eyes followed George around the room. "Not particularly. I'm more interested in leaving."

"I'm afraid that's not possible." George looked at his watch. "As fascinating as I find this conversation, I really must be going. Enjoy your stay."

******************************

Damn. Damn. Damn. She knew this would happen. Six days before the wedding and her intended was missing. Scratch that. Kidnapped. Again.

Returning to the scene of the crime, Karen found Peter and Lo Si still consulting at the computer desk. What was taking them so long? Karen walked over to stand beside Peter and peer at the older Shaolin priest.

Lo Si murmured to himself as he passed his hands in a circle above the keyboard. As he gradually extended his motion to include the monitor, an electric current jumped from the screen to Lo Si's hand.

"Whoa!" Peter jerked back in surprise. "Lo Si, what was that?"

Karen interjected, asking the question gnawing at her heart. "Do you know who took Kermit?"

"Yes."

Karen counted to ten, then twenty, as she controlled the urge to shake the older man. Why didn't Shaolin priests *ever* give you a straight answer?

"Where is he?" She continued in the calmest voice she could muster.

"I do not ... know. I feel the presence of Chen Cheng-Kung."

'Chen Cheng-who?" Karen asked puzzled.

"Chen Cheng-Kung?" Peter tapped his fingers on the desk and exclaimed. "Of course, the Emperor's exhibit! I remember. It burned down three months ago. But Pop said .... Could George have been set free? Oh, boy."

"Anything is possible, young Peter."

Karen patience was at an end. Her voice steadily filling with tension, she broke into the philosophical conversation with increasing asperity. "Who is George and what in the hell does he have to do with Kermit?"

Peter looked at his former captain and gave an apology. "Sorry, Captain. George was... is .... a thief that we ran into before Blaisdell left. He was trapped in a painting at the art museum by the spirit of Emperor Chen Cheng-Kung when he invoked the curse by trying to steal the Emperor's ring. Pop said that George had been taken by the spirits and would not return. But if the painting and the other artifacts have been destroyed, George could have been released."

Karen was not impressed. "Thank you for clearing that up. But *what* does this have to do with Kermit?"

Peter was silenced for a moment as he thought through his theory. "Okay. Kermit's been working on a computer extortion case. Before the party, he set up a trace to follow a lead he got last evening. If George was able to backtrack that trace to Kermit he could have been waiting to ...."

Peter stopped as Karen held up one hand. "If you say 'take Kermit to another dimension' ....." Her voice trailed off as she glared at both Shaolin priests and shook her head in disbelief. This could not be happening. Taking a deep breath, she ignored the pounding in her head and asked the most important question. "How do we find Kermit?"

Karen and Peter both turned their heads in the direction of Lo Si.

"We must focus our chi's together to contact Kermit. I will prepare this room for the meditation."

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