Futures Past 09: From the Ashes
Arvy


Captain's quarters
USS Enterprise-D

When the words started blurring in front of his eyes, he 
knew it was useless. He was too worried to let himself enjoy the 
book the way it was meant to be. He sighed, leaning back as he 
placed the volume against his chest.

This was supposed to have been a routine scientific mission, 
with an even more routine passenger drop-off along the way. How 
had it gotten so... out of control? He closed his eyes, letting 
his mind drift over the words he'd first heard his chief medical 
officer say... was it only two days ago? It seemed like an 
eternity.

He'd never felt this helpless before. The speed with which 
the pathogen had overcome the majority of the crew was nothing 
short of amazing. That he'd not been among those who'd succumbed 
had been more sheer luck than anything else. If the infection had 
indeed been a deliberate act... he shuddered at the idea of the 
potential this had as a weapon.

Slowly, he started to work through various possibilities, 
trying to figure out who might be responsible for the incidents 
at Arvada and Belisarius. When he'd spoken to Beverly a little 
while ago, she'd confirmed her suspicions based on information 
from her cousin. He wondered exactly what had transpired at 
Arvada colony that could have led Crusher and her family to that 
conclusion. When this crisis was over, he decided he would have 
to have a serious talk with Dr. Crusher's cousin.

The chime from the terminal on his desk chose that moment to 
interrupt his thoughts. He looked up in surprise, then placed the 
book on the side table and walked over to the desk. A quick tap 
on the console, and the image resolved into a familiar face.

"Beverly," he said, a small smile breaking out on his face.

"Hello, Jean-Luc. Hope I'm not disturbing you."

"Oh, no. Nothing that can't wait. Any news?"

The doctor paused, wondering how to answer the question. "A 
request actually, from my cousin. She and her husband want a 
meeting with you."

Picard's eyebrow rose. It looked like he was going to get 
his wish sooner than he'd anticipated. "Very well, I'll open a 
conference channel..."

"No," Crusher headed him off. "They requested it be face to 
face. They said they had something to explain to the both of us."

"Oh? And you think it is worth the risk?"

Crusher nodded. "I can beam you to a shielded area, like I 
did with Denise. It should be pretty safe. And considering the 
information I suspect they have, I think it might be worth our 
while to accede to their request."

The second eyebrow joined the first as Picard stared at the 
screen. He wondered if the information Crusher referred to wasn't 
more than just about the cure itself. Finally he grunted, 
"Whenever you're ready."

He felt the tingling as the transporter effect whisked him 
away. His surroundings disappeared, the interior of his quarters 
dissolving, reforming into the interior of Sickbay. He saw that 
he'd been beamed into one of the secure areas, cut off from the 
rest of the medical facility by a force field. He looked across 
the floor to see Crusher at her desk. A second later, two more 
shimmering figures appeared behind a similar force field.

The man and woman materialized standing side by side. The 
smaller figure, they assumed to be that of Crusher's cousin. But 
both Picard and Crusher stared incredulously at the other figure.

Picard was the first to find his voice. "Agent Mulder, I 
presume," he asked weakly.

Crusher tore her eyes away from the pair to dart a look at 
him, her expressions clearly indicating her disbelief at Picard's 

assumption. Unless... "Don't tell me, you accidentally stepped 
through another time portal?"

"Nice to see you still remember me," Mulder grinned. "But, 
to answer to your question, no, there was no portal involved this 
time."

Both Crusher and Picard remembered the man from his earlier 
visit to the Enterprise almost a year ago. At the time, he'd 
claimed to be a federal agent from the early 21st century, and a 
brief investigation into his story had confirmed it. Apparently, 
he and his partner had stumbled onto a time portal on Earth that 
had sent him to the 24th century. It had caused quite a stir 
while they tried to figure out a way to send him back to where he 
belonged.

And now it seemed as if they'd come full circle. Here he 
was, once again in their midst. Picard wondered what the man 
would say by way of explanation this time.

"As near as I can figure, for you, it's been about fifteen 
months since I was here last?" Mulder looked from Crusher to 
Picard for confirmation. When both nodded, he continued, "For me, 
however, it's been almost 365 years."

The silence following his statement was absolute. For a few 
moments, no one spoke. Finally Crusher managed to choke out, 
"That's impossible." She looked to Denise, her expression 
pleading for a saner explanation.

"It's true. Both Felix... or rather, Mulder and I have a 
unique genetic disposition towards longevity."

Crusher looked from Scully to Mulder and back, her 
expression still somewhat disbelieving. "If I didn't know better, 
I'd say you were El-Aurian."

"Ah, but you do know better, don't you?" Mulder pointed out.

Crusher reluctantly nodded. "The scans I did of you at the 
time showed human physiology, for the most part." Her face 
abruptly cleared. "Although, there were some anomalies, like low 
metabolism and the slight flux in your DNA, that I attributed to 
the effects of temporal distortion. I assumed they were merely 
temporary. Are you? Human, I mean."

"If you'd scanned him later, you wouldn't have seen any 
changes in the readings. That's normal for us. As for whether 
we're human..." Scully shrugged. "By every definition that 
counts, we are. We were born on Earth in the late 20th century. 
My parents were normal humans."

"How..." Crusher asked, not quite able to figure out exactly 
what she wanted to ask. A thousand questions came to mind, each 
vying to be the first out of her mouth. Finally one emerged. If 
she was born in the 1900s, then the woman on Arvada... "Your 
mother...?" Memories of the vibrant redhead from her childhood 
flooded her mind as she made the connection. She gasped softly, 
then ventured in a wondrous whisper, "Auntie Day...?"

Scully nodded, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she 
smiled faintly. "You were just eleven at the time. I figured you 
wouldn't recognize me now. In fact, I was surprised you 
remembered me at all. We were on Arvada for such a short time."

Slowly, Crusher was starting to believe. She looked at 
Mulder. A faint memory of the strong hands lifting her up flashed 
across her mind. "I thought you looked familiar on your last 
visit. I couldn't remember your faces, but I could never forget 
you." She let out a small snort of laughter, moving behind her 
desk. Reaching into a drawer, she pulled out a chain. She held it 
up, the light glinting off the small cross hanging from it. "I 
always held on to this," she said softly. "For luck."

Scully reached around her own throat, her fingers hooking 
the cross she wore. "And mine's never failed to bring me hope."

And, incredible as it sounded, Crusher believed her.

Equally obvious, however, was the expression of distrust on 
Picard's face. His eyes narrowed as he went over the story Agent 
Mulder had laid out for them. It just seemed a bit... convenient 
for his tastes, a little too contrived. As a Starfleet officer, 
he wasn't unaware of the possibility of long lived species. The 

normal Vulcan lifespan was easily twice that of most humans. The 
El-Aurians themselves, he knew from personal experience, lived 
for centuries. But humans? Surely, a genetic aberration of this 
magnitude could not have gone unnoticed over the years.

"You'll forgive me, Agent Mulder, if I don't entirely 
believe you," he said. "I have seen others take advantage of time 
travel to interfere with the timeline." Memories of Rasmussen, 
another traveler from the past who had come to their time with 
the intent to alter history, rose unbidden to mind.

Mulder looked at his wife, both sharing a smile at Picard's 
response. "Somehow, Captain," he said, looking back at him, "we 
didn't think you'd be easy to convince. Tell me..." He held out 
his hands invitingly. "What would you have us do to prove 
ourselves?"

"If what you say is true, surely there would be records 
somewhere of your..." Picard trailed off, seeing the man shaking 
his head.

"Captain, if such records were available, don't you think 
someone else would have noticed our... condition? We prefer our 
anonymity. There would be nothing in your computers that could 
back us up. At least, nothing you could find easily."

Picard saw the couple stiffen suddenly, as if they'd heard 
something. He saw them look towards the door expectantly, but was 
puzzled as to the reason.

"But, perhaps, Captain," Scully said, still looking away 
from him, "you might be persuaded by someone you know? We took 
the liberty of asking one of your crewmen..."

The door to Sickbay slid open as if on cue.

"Guinan..." Crusher's eyes widened at their visitor. She 
uttered a faint curse as something else registered. "You broke 
quarantine! Dammit, Guinan, what were you thinking?"

The dark woman entered, her eyes traveling around the room, 
meeting each one's in turn. "I'll be fine, doctor," she said, 
nodding reassuringly towards Crusher. A smile touched her lips as 
she saw Picard. "Captain." She finally looked towards the couple, 
and her face broke into a full-fledged grin. "Hello Mulder, Dana. 
It's good to see you again."

"Likewise," they replied, their smiles evidence of their 
recognition. "It's been a while."

"I take it you know them?" Picard asked, an eyebrow rising 
in question. "From somewhere other than Agent Mulder's last 
visit?"

"Something like that," Guinan answered. "They saved my life 
once."

"Once? How long ago? Agent Mulder has been telling us a 
story about long-lived humans..."

"You mean, like me?" Guinan cut him off.

"You're not human," Picard countered. "Your lifespan is 
common to your race."

Guinan shook her head. "Not all El-Aurians were like me," 
she replied. Her expression grew somber. "The few that were 
mortal were mostly wiped out when the Borg destroyed our world. 
The ones that survived were assimilated. Now all that are left 
are us."

The implications of her words hit Crusher and Picard 
simultaneously. "Then this... genetic predisposition is not 
unique to humans?" Crusher asked.

Scully smiled. "Oh no," she answered, shaking her head. 
"They're there in every species. More in some races than in 
others, but there nonetheless."

"Then there are other humans as well? Like you?" Picard 
questioned the couple. At their nod, he protested, "Even if you 
manipulated computer records, surely someone must have found 
out?"

"Oh, they've found out," Mulder replied bitterly. "Some of 
us, the older ones, have had to live through witch hunts and 
persecution by those who couldn't understand what we were. 
Others, including us, have been experimented upon by our fellow 
humans in the pursuit of science or power." A pause, then, "You 
can understand why we're reluctant to come out into the open. 
It's the same with most races. Some of the more tolerant species, 
like the Vulcans, know about our kind among them, but even they 
would not speak of it in public."

Crusher's jaw dropped at his words, but Picard was quickly 
putting the pieces together. "That's why you wanted me here. You 
want this kept from the official records."

Mulder simply nodded.

"But the ramifications of what you said...," Picard 
protested. "The others you mentioned... I cannot withhold the 
knowledge in good conscience if some of them might be a threat to 
the Federation."

"For all our advantages, we're still human, Captain, or 
whatever race one of our kind belongs to. Some of us are good, 
some evil," Mulder admitted, "but most fall somewhere in between. 
But we do keep to ourselves. Even the worst of our kind don't 
usually involve themselves with mortals. And if one of us does 
step out of line, there are more than enough of us to handle the 
problem." Mulder narrowed his eyes, adding in a determined voice, 
"We take care of our own."

"Vigilante justice?" Picard shot back.

"Self-preservation," Mulder rebutted. "Those who would harm 
mortals risk exposing us. It's not a risk we're willing to take. 
Or can afford to, for that matter."

Before Picard could reply to that, Scully interrupted. 
"Captain, we're taking a risk telling you about us. We needn't 
have revealed any of this to you. In fact, we needn't have come 
here at all. But we did. We want to help. All we're asking you is 
to trust us in return. I think you can understand our need for 
secrecy."

Picard grew silent as he considered her words. He had 
certainly seen enough in his years in Starfleet that the 
information didn't so much shock him as surprise him. But for 
now, he was concerned with more important things. "Doctor..." He 
was mildly amused when both Crusher and Scully turned to look at 
him. "About the reason you wanted to meet..."

The statement sobered the others as they were reminded of 
why they were here in the first place. Scully cleared her throat. 
"He's right. The rest of this can wait. Beverly," she said, 
turning to Crusher, "part of the genetic quirk is a heightened 
immune response. I can pretty much guarantee that I'll be able to 
generate antibodies to combat this virus."

Crusher frowned. "I thought you said Agent Mulder was a 
carrier for another virus? Obviously, his immune system didn't 
work as well as you claim yours will. I don't know if I can 
ethically allow that kind of risk."

Scully and Mulder looked at each other for a moment. Scully 
sighed. "That's because the other virus was introduced into his 
system before the quirk kicked in. It's why I'm immune to it. We 
aren't born like this, Beverly. It usually takes some sort of 
traumatic event to trigger it. We're born normal humans, and we 
age normally till then. And our longevity..." Scully drew in a 
breath as she continued, "well, no one we know with this 
condition has ever died. Not of natural causes, and definitely 
not of a disease." There... it was laid out in front of them. She 
knew she was blurring the facts a little, but both she and Mulder 
had agreed to reveal as little about immortality as possible. And 
now that they'd told their story, it was up to Picard and Beverly 
to decide.

Picard was silent as he stared at the two of them for a 
moment. Finally he took a deep breath and turned to Crusher. 
"Doctor, Guinan, if I could speak to you in private?"

The two women obligingly moved towards him, while the other 
two moved away to give them some privacy.

"Jean-Luc...?"

"Beverly, do you trust them?"

A simple question, she realized, with a complex answer. An 
answer that nevertheless finally boiled down to one word. "Yes," 
she replied, "I do. Jean-Luc, Denise... I mean, Aunt Dana offered 
to infect herself in order to find a cure. I don't know what more 
they can do to convince us of their sincerity. Granted, I'm not 
entirely convinced that they are telling us the whole truth, but 
as I see it, it's their business. If their kind want to keep to 
themselves, who are we to stand in their way?"

"They lied to us, Beverly. They've been lying to the world 
for an obviously long time."

"You heard what Agent Mulder said about their kind being 
persecuted through the ages. As I see it, they have every right 
to protect themselves." Crusher paused, looking from Guinan to 
Picard.

"I agree," Guinan added. "As they said, they need not have 
volunteered for this in the first place. Captain, those 
experiments that Mulder talked about... you know I spent some 
time on Earth?" When Picard nodded, she continued, "I was 
unfortunate enough to be caught in one of the first uses of this 
virus. They rescued me from my captors."

"Damn," Crusher said. "I was hoping to ask you to undergo 
the procedure. If you shared their immune response..."

Guinan shook her head. "I already asked Dana about that. 
Unfortunately, my blood would be as useless as yours is, for 
similar reasons. No," she turned back to Picard, "if you want to 
save this crew, Captain, it's in their hands now. They felt they 
could trust you with the truth about them. You'll just have to 
extend them the same trust. I do."

Picard sighed, nodding. "I don't think I have a choice, do 
I?" His lips broke into a slight smile. "I suppose I just wanted 
a second opinion to justify my decision." He shrugged, his 
expression turning serious. "Doctor, can you hide all evidence of 
how you came about the cure?"

Crusher nodded. "I think so. I just have to be careful where 
I record my work."

"Then you don't have any objections to this course of 
action?"

Crusher shook her head.

Even as Picard nodded, the two immortals were having their 
own discussion on the other side of the room.

"Picard may be trustworthy, but he's still a hardass."

"Mulder!" Scully hissed, "keep your voice down. The last 
thing we need is for him to hear that."

"You know I'm right, Scully," Mulder said. But he did take 
care to lower his voice. He looked across the room towards the 
topic of their conversation. "You know who he reminds me of?" 
Looking back down to meet his wife's eyes, he saw the answer 
reflected back at him.

With a grin, both replied at the same time.

"Skinner," Scully said.

"Mel Brooks," was Mulder's answer.

Scully stared at him in surprise. "You're joking."

Mulder chuckled. "Sorry, couldn't help it. Something about 
his eyes. But you're right. He's like Skinner reincarnated or 
something. Especially with that attitude." He paused, an idea 
forming in his mind. "Oh, god, I just had a weird thought. You 
don't think they're related, do you?"

"Who knows?" she answered, her lips quirking into a wry 
grin. Her eyes wandered to the others, seeing them finish their 
conversation and turn towards them. "Mulder," she nodded in their 
direction. Both moved closer to them.

"Very well, Agent Mulder, Dr. Kelly. Where do we go from 
here?" Picard said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Days Inn, Dayton Falls, PA
Sunday, December 6, 1998
7:12 PM

"This is so strange."

The tall man turned to glance across the room at his partner 
where she sat on the bed. He frowned. "What's up?" he asked, 
moving towards her.

"I just checked my email," the woman replied, pointing to 
the small computer perched across her lap. She looked up from it 
to see him sit down next to her. "There's a message from Bill."

"Your brother?" A dark eyebrow rose in surprise. "What does 
he want?"

"Apparently some information."

"Huh?"

"His ship is out on maneuvers somewhere in the Pacific," she 
began, by way of explanation. "He came across something strange 
and he wanted to see if I had, or could get access to any 
information about this area." She turned the laptop to show him 
the series of numbers indicating the coordinates of the area.

"He couldn't just ask his superiors? I mean, he is supposed 
to be patrolling the area, right?"

"That's just it, Mulder," she replied, turning the computer 
back towards her, frowning down at the contents on its screen. 
"He tried, but kept getting the runaround. Apparently he tried to 
do a sonar scan of the area, but there's some sort of artificial 
interference. His superiors in Coronado say that the area is 
restricted, but he got the impression they don't really know 
what's down there either. And the information itself is 
classified highly enough that he was warned to get out of the 
area with all due haste."

"Scully, isn't his superior a vice-admiral in the navy? If 
that office doesn't know, then..."

"Exactly," Scully agreed, nodding.

"So what are you going to do?" Mulder asked. "Or maybe I 
should ask, what does he expect you to do about it?"

"He was just asking if I could maybe find out anything about 
it, if I had any connections that could get the information for 
him."

"He seems awfully concerned about it," Mulder observed. "I 
always thought he was a straight-laced military type, you know. I 
mean, no wonder he hates me." He grinned at the expression on his 
partner's face. "I'm just surprised he doesn't just quietly 
accept the warning from his superiors and forget about it. What 
did he see out there anyway?"

"Normally I'd have thought the same thing. But he says he 
saw someone transferring a..." She frowned, rereading the section 
of the email. "... a coffin-shaped object from a seaplane to a 
short-range submersible. His instruments couldn't give him a 
clear reading of the area. And since his superiors weren't much 
help, he decided to ask me."

"So...?"

"I don't know," Scully shrugged. "Maybe I'll give the Gunmen 
a holler, see if they can find out anything about that part of 
the Pacific. Although, what Bill expects from me, I have no 
idea."

"Hmmm..."

"But that's for tomorrow. Right now, I want to go talk to 
Colton. Which room did the front desk say he was registered in?"

"Room 14. Want me to see if Lynn's ready?" Mulder asked.

Scully paused as she was putting the computer away. "Oh? Now 
it's Lynn, is it?"

Mulder's head shot up in surprise. "What else am I supposed 
to call her? It's her name."

"It's been Horton so far," she answered defensively.

Mulder wondered how to answer that, until he caught the 
small twitch at the edge of her lips. "But Scully, don't you 
know?" he replied playfully, "it's not proper to call your 
friends by their last names."

He walked towards her, moving closer until he was well 
within her personal space. He leaned in, his face almost nose to 
nose with hers, his eyes capturing hers, locking with them so 
they couldn't pull away. "That's reserved for people I don't 
know," he added, watching her expression go from surprise to 
indignation. He smirked. "... and for those I know so well, 
calling them anything else would make them an entirely different 
person," he breathed.

Blue eyes widened. Her mouth opened, but all that came out 
was a soft, "Oh..."

Hazel eyes crinkled in answer. "I'll go and see if 'Lynn' is 
ready," he said, smiling as he turned around and headed for the 
door again.

Behind him, the stunned FBI agent watched him leave, 
speechless. Finally, she grinned as well, moving forward to 
follow him.


She was closing the door behind her when she saw him 
knocking on the room next to hers. "Mulder?" she asked 
quizzically.

"It doesn't look like she's in there," he replied, turning 
the knob experimentally.

"Oh? You think she went to see Colton already?"

"Maybe," he replied. He turned and looked down the corridor. 
"You wanna check his room?"

They headed towards the room they'd been told Colton had 
checked into. There was no answer to their knock.

"He isn't here either?" Mulder mused. "Now why does that 
trouble me?"

Before she could answer, her cell phone trilled. She flipped 
it open, the "Scully," almost automatic by now. She frowned at 
the silence. "Hel..." Her voice trailed off as a look of surprise 
stole over her face. "Mulder," she whispered, holding the phone 
so he could hear it as well.

Puzzled, Mulder bent down and placed his ear near the 
receiver.

First there was silence, then he could hear Horton's faint 
voice. "Tom, are you sure we should be doing this? Shouldn't we 
take some backup? Or at least let someone know where we are?"

Colton's voice came through next. "Someone? You mean your 
two new friends? Forget it. Those two are the last people I'd 
want backing me up," he said harshly.

Both agents winced at the tone. Colton obviously didn't 
realize he was on candid cellphone. They heard Horton sigh at the 
comment.

"Fine. So where exactly are we headed anyway?" A pause from 
Horton, then, "Isn't this 221?"

"Yeah," came the muttered reply. "We should be coming up on 
FM 529 soon. Nick said that the farm he was checking out was 
about ten miles west of that."

The line clicked, then disconnected after that. Mulder 
looked at his partner, silently nodding to her unasked question. 
As one, they turned and headed for their car.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Several miles outside Dayton Falls, PA
8:08 PM

The utter darkness was unbroken for miles around. Suddenly, 
twin beams of light lanced out, piercing through the night as the 
agents made their way through the woods.

"Can you even see anything out here?" The question was 
valid; outside the circle of brightness from their flashlights, 
she couldn't make out any features of the dark woodlands. Any 
direction she picked looked exactly like all the others. Scully 
finally turned from her perusal of their surroundings to look at 
the person walking next to her.

"Cut the lights," Mulder said, coming to a sudden halt.

"Huh?" She watched, puzzled, as he turned off his 
flashlight. "Okay," she muttered, mimicking his action. They were 
suddenly engulfed by the night, the darkness feeling almost like 
a cloak thrown around her. She could barely even make out his 
features, the surrounding foliage completely masking any source 
of light.

"There!"

"What? Where?" Scully looked around, wondering what he'd 
seen.

"C'mon Scully." He reached out and grabbed her hand, causing 
her to jump in surprise. "This way," he said, pulling her behind 
him as he moved forward.

"What'd you see, Mulder?"

"This," Mulder replied, coming to a stop, reaching forward 
to brush off some vegetation.

Scully turned on her flashlight again, revealing the hood of 
a dark sedan. She blinked. "How on earth...?" The branches and 
the darkness had served to completely hide the car from any human 
eyes.

"Hood's still warm," Mulder explained, his hands resting on 
the metal. "They couldn't have gotten far," he added, looking 
around.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you about that. What 
does it look like anyway? The heat, I mean."

Mulder shrugged. "I don't know. It's like those night-vision 
goggles, I guess. Except the image is a deeper shade of red, not 
like the green false color stuff. Everything just glows a little 
when it gets dark." He paused, looking at her. "Even you," he 
added softly, then grinned at the slight increase in color as her 
cheeks heated up. 'Wouldn't have noticed that before,' he thought 
to himself. Sometimes, he had to admit, his abilities definitely 
came in handy. "This way," he said finally, turning to head into 
the woods.

They walked for a few minutes through the dense forest, 
Scully wondering if they were even headed in the right direction. 
Branches and leaves brushed against them as they made their way 
in. Scully cursed as she ran headlong into one particularly rigid 
plant.

"Careful, Scully."

She sighed, pushing the offending obstruction aside as she 
plodded forward. Not for the first time, she envied Mulder his 
night vision. She could hardly even hear him moving in front of 
her, whereas she was sure she sounded like a wounded rhino 
crashing through the forest.

The edge of the woods came so suddenly, they were out in the 
open before they realized it. And there, in front of them, less 
than a hundred yards or so beyond, they saw it. A vast field, 
stretching into the dark hills in the distance. There were a few 
lights strung along its edges, casting an eerie glow over it.

"Mulder...," Scully whispered. They had found what they were 
looking for.

"I know," he replied, his voice echoing the tone in hers. 
"Here, follow me," he added, retreating behind the treeline. He 
ducked, pulling her down beside him. "Stay here."

With that he was gone. Scully had to blink a few times, 
trying to convince herself that he'd disappeared. "Dammit," she 
muttered to herself, looking around in surprise. "Where..."

She realized where he was when she heard the soft rustling 
above her. She glanced up, just in time to see him drop down out 
of the tree, landing next to her. "See anything from up there?" 
she managed to ask nonchalantly, trying to cover up her startled 
reaction.

"Yeah. There's a building of some kind in the middle of the 
field over there," he said, nodding towards a certain section of 
it. "It looks like it's surrounded by the plants, but there seem 
to be several narrow passages cut into the crops, leading from 
the outer edges to the building."

"You think it'll be like the one in Virginia?"

"Probably. But we'll have to be careful. This one's still 
active." He grew quiet for a few seconds, then softly cursed 
under his breath.

"Mulder?"

"Over there." He pointed along the edge of the field towards 
one of the passages.

She followed his finger, squinting to make out whatever it 
was in the darkness. Suddenly she saw it. Movement. Her eyes 
narrowed. "It's them," she hissed, just barely making out the two 
forms crouched in the grassy corridor a bit into the field.

"So, what say we pay them a visit?" Mulder asked, moving 
towards them.

Careful not to make any sound, they approached the two 
agents.

"Hello Lynn," Scully said, ducking into a crouch next to 
them. "Colton," she added, nodding at the man.

The two agents were visibly startled at the new arrivals. 
While Horton appeared relieved, Colton's expression revealed him 
to be anything but. "What the hell are you two doing here?" he 
barked angrily.

"Shut up, Colton," Mulder hissed, sliding in next to his 
partner. "Lynn, did you tell him what happened at the farm in 
Virginia?"

"Yeah," Horton answered softly.

"What the hell were you thinking, Colton? This goes against 
every rule in the book. You should have asked for backup," Mulder 
whispered hotly.

"Oh, that's rich, coming from you, Mulder," Colton shot 
back.

Meanwhile, Scully turned to Horton. "Lynn..."

"I know. I'm sorry. I saw him on his way out. I tried to get 
him to wait for you, but he wouldn't listen. I didn't know what 
else..."

"It's okay. You did the right thing," Scully replied softly, 
putting her hand on Horton's arm reassuringly.

"I don't want you two involved in this," Colton interrupted. 
"This is my case, and..."

"Dammit, Colton. You don't have any idea what you're 
involved in. We're working on different parts of the same case. 
But this is so much bigger than simply your friend's 
disappearance, or even that of the children in Virginia. This is 
part of a conspiracy that reaches into the lives of every man, 
woman, and child on this planet."

"Oh, cut the crap, Mulder. Don't bring any of your UFO, 
paranormal, conspiracy theory shit into this, okay? Just...," 
Colton held up a hand, "... stay out of my way, and let's get 
this over with."

Mulder snorted, but didn't say anything. He gripped his gun 
harder as he watched Colton and Lynn quietly move forward through 
the narrow gap in the field. Finally, he fell into step behind 
them, Scully at his side.

"It's funny..."

Mulder figured they were about halfway down the path when 
Scully suddenly broke the silence. He glanced to his side, 
looking at his partner. "What is?" He kept pace behind the other 
two agents, who were oblivious to their hushed conversation.

"Oh, you lecturing to Colton about following the rules. You 
should have heard yourself. Since when have you been such a 
stickler for them anyway?"

He smirked. "I guess having someone to answer to changes 
one's perspective, huh? And I'm not talking about Skinner here." 
His hand brushed lightly against her arm. He could almost see her 
smiling, and grinned. "I've been really good about not doing the 
ditch lately, haven't I, Scully?"

"Yes, Mulder, that you have," she acknowledged. "It's 
just.."

"Whoa!" Mulder suddenly shot out loud enough for all of them 
to hear. They came to a halt immediately. "You hear that?"

"I heard it too," Horton whispered. "Sounded like machinery, 
I think."

"We must be getting close to the building," Scully decided.

"What building?" Colton asked, puzzled. "I didn't see 
anything."

"Mulder saw it inside the field," she explained. At their 
surprised looks, she shrugged. "He climbed a tree," she added.

Mulder frowned, his ears picking out a soft, high-pitched 
whine. He'd heard the machinery that Horton was referring to, but 
this was something else, something... different. And it sounded 
like it was coming from all sides, slowly getting closer to their 
position. He paled as he realized what it was. "Guys... RUN!!" he 
shouted, turning and heading for the outside of the field.

"What is it?" Scully shouted as she ran after him. Colton 
followed, Lynn right at his heels. By now, even the others could 
hear it.

Behind them, Horton tripped, stumbling to her knees. She 
pushed up from the ground, breathless. In front of her, the other 
agents were getting farther away. Meanwhile, the whine had grown 
in volume behind her. She turned, her eyes widening as her 
flashlight caught the dark cloud moving towards her.

They were almost out of the field when Colton realized that 
his fiancee was no longer running beside him. "Hey, wait a 
minute. Lynn..." He saw Mulder and Scully stop. He turned, his 
flashlight searching for the missing agent. The bobbing light 
caught her kneeling on the ground. She turned, looking at him, 
their eyes locking for an endless moment. His heart almost 
stopped when she screamed.

He could see it... them... surrounding her. She was waving 
her arms, trying to brush them away, her motions woefully 
ineffectual. The insects swarmed around her, merciless, forming 
an angry barrier between her and the agents. He started running 
back towards her.

He almost didn't feel the sudden pain at his temple. But 
then, the burning set in. In some corner of his mind, he realized 
that he'd been shot. In the distance, he could make out the 
suited figures coming towards them. He stumbled forward, trying 
to reach Lynn before they did.

Another shot rang out, but he was pushed aside, out of its 
path. He landed hard against the ground, the breath knocked out 
of him. He could already feel the effects of his injury. The last 
thing he saw before he lost consciousness was Mulder's body in 
front of him, shielding him, jerking as two more shots were 
fired.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Sickbay
USS Enterprise-D
Sunday, April 11, 2371
1749 hours

The two redheads were bent over the table, their voices low 
as they went over the steps one more time. With Scully acting as 
the guinea pig, she wouldn't be available to help Crusher during 
the actual experiment. With that in mind, she was trying to bring 
Crusher up to date on anything she might need to know about 
immortal physiology.

"Almost any part of this would keep the research teams at 
Starfleet Medical busy for years trying to figure it out," 
Crusher said as she looked over the biodata her cousin... aunt... 
had provided her with.

"I know," came the tired answer. "Only too well, actually."

Crusher looked up at the other woman, seeing the pain 
clearly etched on her face. 'What were you thinking, Beverly? 
After what they told you...' "I... I'm sorry. I wasn't 
thinking..."

"It's okay. I know what you meant. It appeals to the 
scientist in you, doesn't it?"

Crusher silently let out a breath of relief. "Yes! Exactly! 
How could you resist..."

"I didn't, actually," Scully confessed wryly. "The first few 
years, I was obsessed with trying to explain this rationally. A 
scientific explanation for what I thought of as a unnatural 
aberration."

"And...?" Crusher asked, curious.

"It took me a while to learn to just accept it and move on. 
We are part of nature, part of evolution. And that's that." 
Scully grinned. "Although, finding out we weren't unique to the 
human race definitely helped."

"I bet you were as relieved as when humans first found out 
they weren't alone in the universe."

Scully grinned at that. She hadn't revealed the truth about 
the Game to Crusher or Picard. She and Mulder had agreed that it 
would probably not go over too well with the Starfleet officers. 
Both remembered the first time that knowledge of alien immortals 
became widespread among the human immortal community. The panic 
at the idea of new players in the Game, followed by the surprise 
at the different rules and beliefs each species followed. It had 
been a watershed in how human immortals had been viewing 
themselves for millennia. "Something like that," she said 
finally.

Crusher nodded at the reply, turning back to the display 
screen. She'd been looking over the information for almost an 
hour now, and was mostly familiar with Denise's physiology. Based 
on the data, she could actually see her body producing the 
necessary antibodies. Her clinical mind imagined the course of 
events as the virus would invade the host body. Of course, 
considering that such an experiment had never been attempted 
before, she also had no idea how much of an effect the virus 
would have on her aunt's body.

It was possible that the antibodies would be produced fast 
enough that the woman would show no signs of infection at all. 
Crusher prayed that would be the case. However, it was also 
possible that the virus would completely take over, as it had the 
dead crewman, shutting down her body as it destroyed her cell by 
cell. In which case, it would be up to the vaunted immune 
response she'd heard so much about to come to the rescue.

In spite of Scully's reassurances, Crusher couldn't help but 
wonder at the ethical and moral ramifications of what she was 
about to do. How was this any different than the animal 
experimentation that had been outlawed so long ago on Earth? The 
only difference this time was that the lab rat in this case was a 
willing participant in the experiment.

And then, of course, there was still the small chance that 
none of this would even work. Her cousin had assured her that the 
introduction of the virus into her system wouldn't do her any 
permanent damage. But she'd also confided in her the possibility 
that her body might be able to defeat the virus without actually 
producing any new antibodies at all, although it was small 
considering how unique this particular virus was. It was similar 
to why she herself was immune. The body was able to fight off the 
invaders because of some previous resistance to something 
similar. In her case, and Guinan's, it was the other forms of the 
virus. It was also the reason that other virulent diseases hadn't 
already been eradicated by other well-meaning immortals. Even if 
it took a little time, their bodies usually defeated most forms 
of infection using previously developed immunities instead of 
producing new antibodies.

She sighed, looking around the empty sickbay. Both Picard 
and Guinan had gone back to their quarters, once the decision had 
been made. In the far corner, Mulder sat at her desk, leaning 
back, staring at nothing in particular as he waited. She could 
make out the faint tension in his taut muscles and clenched 
fists. There was nothing he could do; it was up to the two women 
now. He caught her eye, and gave her a small smile. She returned 
it, then bent back to her work.

"Do you have any questions?" Scully asked, moving next to 
Crusher.

"Well, Denise... I mean, Aunt Dana..."

Scully chuckled. "I think just Dana will be fine, Beverly."

Crusher nodded. A thought occurred to her. "Are you really 
my aunt?"

"I suppose so," Scully replied. "Many generations removed, 
of course. You're descended from one of my brothers."

"And Agent Mulder is your... partner?" Scully looked back at 
her, puzzled, so she elaborated. "You're the one he was trying to 
get back to when he was here last?"

"Yeah," Scully replied, remembering that particular set of 
events. "We used to work together for the FBI back around the 
turn of the 21st century."

"I'm glad he found you," Crusher said, pulling her out of 
her reverie. At her aunt's puzzled look, she tried to explain 
what she'd seen in him that time. "It was almost as if he was 
lost, you know. Like a part of him was missing." She darted a 
quick glance at the man sitting at her desk, then turned back to 
Scully. "I look at him now, and I can tell he's worried about 
you. But there's a peace there that wasn't there before."

Scully stared at Crusher for a moment. Finally, she allowed 
a faint smile to stretch her lips. "Thank you, Beverly. I know 
what you mean. I feel the same way. But hearing it out loud..." 
She chuckled, looking down at her hands. "I guess I'm feeling 
more nervous about this than I admitted to myself."

"Dana...?" Crusher looked at her thoughtfully, a hand moving 
to clasp her aunt's. "If you're not sure about this..."

"No!" Scully cut her off. "I've never been more sure about 
anything. This is the right thing to do. The risks to me are 
minimal."

One look at Scully's expression convinced Crusher of her 
aunt's resolve. Slowly, she withdrew her hand, nodding silently. 
Together, they got back to work.

It took almost another hour before they were satisfied that 
they had covered all the contingencies. Despite her fears, Scully 
knew that Crusher was competent enough to oversee the procedure.

Scully smiled at the thought. It was, of course, to be 
expected that the number of descendents of her brothers would 
eventually grow faster than she could keep track. While she made 
sure that the Foundation kept tabs on all of them, Beverly was 
one of the few whom she personally knew about. And, while she and 
her niece hadn't seen each other in well over three decades, 
she'd made a point of keeping track of her over the years. She'd 
been pleasantly surprised when Beverly had chosen to follow the 
medical profession. Despite all her different vocations over the 
centuries, medicine remained one of her favorites.

She'd watched with almost maternal pride as her niece rose 
through the ranks to become head of Starfleet Medical, although 
she was not a bit surprised when Beverly had chosen to give up 
the position to return to the Enterprise. There was just 
something about exploring the unknown that called to her as well. 
A feeling she could easily identify with.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw Crusher walking 
towards her with a hypospray. "I guess it's showtime."


Crusher nodded, coming to a stop beside her aunt.

Mulder noticed the exchange, and walked over to stand beside 
his wife. "So how is this going to work?"

Crusher held up the hypo. "This contains enough of the virus 
to ensure infection. Once it's been administered, her body should 
start fighting it almost immediately, based on the information 
you've given me."

Mulder looked at her questioningly as she paused. An eyebrow 
rose. "And...? What happens after that?"

Crusher looked from him to Scully and back, a flush rising 
up her neck. "Umm... that part, we're not entirely sure of..."

"What!?" Mulder shouted, incredulous.

"Mulder..." Scully placed a hand on his arm, calming him 
almost immediately. "It's just that we're treading on new ground 
here. As we see it, it could go either way. Depending on how 
powerful my immune response is, the antibodies might be generated 
almost instantaneously. On the other hand..."

 Mulder could almost see what was on the other hand. He'd 
been born into an age where medicine had sufficiently advanced 
that he wasn't often exposed to dangerous diseases. But he'd 
heard enough stories from fellow immortals to realize that many 
of the more virulent diseases often killed the immortal before 
they were able to fight it off.

"On the other hand," he sighed, "it's also possible that 
you'll slip into a coma, just like all the others."

"Yeah," Scully replied. "There's just no way to tell."

"Okay, so what happens if you do go into a coma? I'm 
assuming that Beverly is not going to put you in stasis as well?"

"No, she's not. The disease must be allowed to run its 
course, Mulder. Even if I die..." She flinched at the involuntary 
gasp from her husband. She squeezed his hand tighter. "Even if I 
do die, I'll revive as soon as my body builds up the necessary 
immunity."

"I don't have to tell you that I don't like this one bit."

"I know, Mulder," she whispered to him. She reached up, her 
lips just brushing against his. "And I love you for letting me do 
this."

"Just... promise me...," he asked, his voice just as soft, 
"promise me you'll come back to me, okay?"

Scully could see the tears gather in his eyes, even as he 
blinked to try and clear them away. She smiled at him, reaching 
up once again to claim his lips in hers in a silent promise. This 
time, it was longer, more passionate, as each tried to 
encapsulate their love for each other into one soul searing kiss.

Scully finally broke away, turning tearful eyes towards 
Beverly. She nodded.

"Get up on the biobed," Crusher said softly, not unaffected 
by the display of emotion in front of her. When she saw her aunt 
lying on the bed, she walked next to her head. She placed a hasty 
kiss on her cheek, then pressed the hypospray against her arm. A 
short hiss, and it was done.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

St. Clair Memorial Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA
Room 310
Monday, December 7, 1998
6:47 PM

He came awake to an empty room and the sound of hushed 
voices just outside the door. He looked around, taking in his 
austere surroundings. A mistake, he realized immediately. His 
eyes slammed shut as the sharp pain lanced through his head. His 
hand reached up, his fingers tracing the bandage that encircled 
his head. Slowly he reopened his eyes. A hospital room, he 
observed, as his surroundings came into focus. Finally, the 
indistinct voices outside resolved into coherent speech.

"I am his doctor," a female voice hissed indignantly. "He is 
not to be moved without my express authorization and consent." 
The voice rose as she barked, "Do I make myself clear?"

There was a muffled reply that he couldn't quite make out, 
but it must have been in the affirmative. The first voice 
responded with a gruff, "Good. If that's all then I'll be with my 
patient."

He saw the door open, but was unprepared for the identity of 
his visitor.

"Good, you're awake," Scully observed, moving next to him. 
"How are you feeling?"

He blinked, trying to clear his confusion. "Where...?" he 
finally managed to utter. The hoarse whisper that came out 
surprised him. He struggled to lean up.

Scully immediately reached to the counter next to the bed, 
pouring out some water into a cup. "Here, let me help you up," 
she said, pressing the controls by the bedside to raise the head 
of the bed. She handed him the cup. "Your throat's going to be a 
little sore, so drink it slowly."

Colton took a grateful sip, the water soothing his throat as 
it slid down. He looked back up at her. "How long have I been 
here?" he asked.

"You were shot," she explained. "You've been unconscious for 
almost a day. It's Monday night." She paused, waiting 
expectantly. After a moment, she asked, "What's the last thing 
you remember?"

"Getting shot," came the clipped response.

"What else?"

Suddenly an image came back. "Mulder... he was shot too." He 
thought he saw her eyes widen just a fraction, but figured he was 
mistaken when he heard her reply.

Scully shook her head. "It wasn't too serious," she said. 
"He was just grazed."

Colton frowned. That wasn't quite how he remembered it. He 
could recall his surprise that Mulder would willingly risk his 
life for someone he didn't even like. He was sure the bullets 
had... He sighed, shaking his head. It didn't matter anyway. It 
wasn't what he really wanted to know about.

"Tom? Aren't you going to ask about Lynn?" Scully asked 
softly.

He gritted his teeth. As long as they didn't talk about her, 
he could imagine her in a similar room next to his, or maybe 
sitting in the hospital cafeteria, getting a bite to eat. He 
swallowed, a bitter taste forming in his mouth. "She's not here, 
is she?" came the subdued question.

The look on the woman's face was answer enough. "I'm so 
sorry, Tom. We tried, but there were too many of them. They got 
to Lynn before we could. And the bees were getting closer. We had 
no protection. We had to get out of there."

"Right."

"Tom?" Scully's voice dropped, going from sympathetic to 
deadly serious. "Did Lynn tell you about the bees?"

"Yeah, she filled me in on Mulder's cockamamie theory," he 
replied, his hostility toward the agent evident. "About the bees 
carrying a deadly virus, or some shit like that. What does it 
have to do with leaving Lynn..."

"We don't have a cure for it. If even one of those insects 
had stung you, you'd be in a coma like your friend, like those 
children in Virginia. We were very, very lucky."

"Yeah, tell that to Lynn. I'm sure she feels very lucky 
right about now. What are we doing to get her back? When can we 
return to the farm?"

Scully sighed. "Mulder went back to the farm earlier today. 
It's been cleaned out. There's no field anymore. Or a building, 
or any bees. Nothing. Just like before."

"You're joking." He stared at her in incredulous disbelief. 
"I saw the field! I saw the goddamn bees, the men in the suits! 
They couldn't have gotten rid of everything so quickly." Seeing 
her pained nod, he closed his eyes. "Who are these people?" he 
asked finally.

"Mulder would probably paint a more dramatic picture, but 
what it boils down to is a group of men who are behind this 
project. They have these... these bee farms scattered throughout 
the world. We believe they are using the bees as a carrier device 
for spreading this virus."

"But to what end?" Colton asked in protest. "Why would 
anyone want to..."

"For the oldest reason in the book," she replied, shrugging. 
"Power, control, you name it. Mulder thinks they plan to use it 
to enslave humanity or to put into effect some sort of mass mind 
control. Personally, I think that's being a little too 
melodramatic. From what I've seen, all the virus does is put 
people into a coma."

"You've studied the effects of the virus?"

Scully cleared her throat sheepishly. "Sort of, but, 
well..."

"Well what?" he asked impatiently.

"Well, I haven't actually studied the long term effects of 
the virus," she confessed. "Most of my patients seem to wind up 
disappearing before I get the chance to examine them too 
closely."

"Oh, that's just great," Colton muttered sarcastically. 
"Which reminds me, where is Mulder anyway? You two always seemed 
to be joined at the hip. I'm surprised he managed to leave you 
here alone." He saw her eyes narrow at his comment. He frowned as 
the conversation he'd heard earlier came back to mind. "And 
what's the deal with you being my doctor? I don't recall 
consenting to that."

"Mulder is... ah... he's meeting with an informant of his. 
We hope this person can provide us some information about where 
they took Lynn. As for being your doctor, well, that's the only 
way I'd have the authority to keep you here." At his blank look, 
she tried to elaborate. "There was a transfer order that came in 
about a couple of hours ago, requesting that you be moved into a 
facility where you can be better taken care of. We know how well 
that worked with your friend."

"Oh." The reply was short, but his face paled at the news.

"Yeah. I've arranged for a guard to be posted outside your 
room at all times. Although, now that you're awake, we can 
probably dispense with that. I didn't know how long I could keep 
the hospital at bay without any explanation." She shrugged. 
"Anonymous Bureau authority will only get you so far," she added 
wryly. "But the good news is, your head's healing nicely. The 
bullet grazed your temple, but you should make a complete 
recovery. Are you in any pain?"

Colton shook his head. "Only if I move too fast. When can I 
get out of here?"

"It must be something in the male chromosome." Scully 
muttered to herself. Out loud, she said, "I'd suggest you stay 
here tonight. I'll dismiss the guard. I can use the couch over 
there." She nodded towards the far end of the room.

"You're going to sleep in here?" Colton asked incredulously.

"You have a problem with that?" she rejoined sharply. When 
he shook his head, her gaze softened. Memories of the past, of a 
little boy in a similar hospital floated through her mind. Gibson 
had trusted them, and they'd failed him terribly. "I've learned 
from bitter experience that you can't be too cautious when it 
comes to these people. If I left you alone, I wouldn't be 
surprised to find you missing come morning."

"Holy...!"

"So, I'd suggest you get some rest if you want to get out of 
here tomorrow. I'll be right back." She headed out the door, but 
true to her word, she returned within a few minutes. "The guard's 
gone, but Mulder should be back soon."

Colton saw her move to sit down on the couch, pulling out 
her briefcase and her laptop. He reached for the bed controls, 
lowering the head until it was level again. He realized how tired 
he actually was when the mere act of leaning back felt so 
soothing. He heard the soft tones of the modem connecting as 
Scully worked. Idly, he thought about the two X-files agents. The 
last time he'd seen them had been over five years ago. He was 
surprised at the lack of animosity he felt towards them now.

He wanted to be angry at them for involving Lynn in all of 
this. He tried not to remember that technically, it was Lynn's 
case in the first place, not theirs. He sighed. Maybe it was the 
enforced inactivity, but it was giving him time to think. Too 
much probably, he thought darkly.

He couldn't help thinking that if he'd worked with the two 
of them, gotten a better idea of the dangers they were up against 
instead of brushing them off, Lynn might still be safe. After 
all, it was his fault that Lynn had accompanied him out there in 
the first place. Try as he might, he couldn't fault the agents, 
not with the image of Mulder getting shot in his place coursing 
through his mind every few minutes. He frowned. He'd been sure 
Mulder had been wounded more seriously. But if the man was up and 
about, he must've been mistaken. But still...

"That's strange."

The comment interrupted his thoughts. He looked down the 
bed, his eyebrow rising in question. "Something wrong?"

"I was trying to find your friend, Stein, in the Bureau 
database. It says there's no Nick or Nicholas Stein listed with 
the Pittsburgh office."

Colton chuckled. "Nick is his middle name. He hates his 
first name. Try Francis." He heard the soft clack of the keys, 
followed by a satisfied, "Ah."

"Francis Stein." Scully stared at the information for a 
second, frowning. Her face cleared as she made the connection. 
"Francis Nicholas Stein. Oh, I get it. The poor guy."

"Yup. He used to get teased about it all the time, 
especially with his height and all."

"Hmm... Well, I don't see anything here that would explain 
how he stumbled onto the bee farm. Did he tell you anything?"

"Nah. All he said was that he'd gotten a tip about some 
illegal deliveries at the farm. He told me he couldn't reveal 
much more, but that whatever it was, it was big. I guess he was 
right, the poor bastard."

"We'll get them back, Tom," Scully said softly. "Both Nick 
and Lynn."

"Yeah," Colton replied. Of course, they would. He didn't 
dare think otherwise. He couldn't afford to. He closed his eyes 
as he drifted off to a troubled sleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Warehouse 12, Keith Road, Pittsburgh, PA
7:09 PM

"Perhaps, we were being overconfident," the Englishman 
muttered to his companion as he paced the floor of the empty 
building. "There is no guarantee he will come."

The other man leaned back against the far wall, a small 
smile on his face. "He will come," he assured. "If only because I 
asked him to."

"Oh?" A raised eyebrow joined the comment. "He knows you are 
alive then?"

"I'm sure he suspects. In the business you and I are in, 
things are rarely what they appear to be."

"Indeed. I wondered how he found out about our base in Peru. 
Perhaps I've found the leak my associates have been searching 
for."

"My friend," came the chuckled response. "You know there is 
no evidence that Mulder was ever at the base. Besides, I think 
we've both been guilty of 'leaks' when they've suited our 
purposes."

"And what would yours be?" The gaunt man stared 
calculatingly at the other. "You have yet to inform me as to your 
reasons for being involved in all this. I'm sure you would not 
have come out of hiding for a triviality. And I've certainly done 
you no favors."

"You may not have, but I do have certain... debts I need to 
repay." The man the X-files agents had dubbed Deep Throat 
shrugged. "Very old debts," he added, sighing.

The Englishman's eyes narrowed at the reply, wondering about 
the other's motivations. In an enterprise that perforce required 
a certain amount of secrecy, this man was that much more of an 
enigma. Not many in the consortium knew much about him. He had 
just always been there since their inception. In fact, the one 
person who might have known him well enough was now conveniently 
missing from Peru, leaving behind a small scale nuclear explosion 
that had all but destroyed their base and their work there. He 
wondered if the man wasn't an orchestrator more than he was an 
informant.

Their line of work was a dangerous one in which to have owed 
favors or outstanding debts. He knew his own reasons for doing 
this. His granddaughter, and his loss of faith in the 
consortium's objectives. But he couldn't quite help contemplating 
the identity of the person who could cause his cohort to 
undertake the risk in their collusion. Those old debts of his 
must have been very dear indeed. The sudden jerk of the other's 
head caught his attention. He saw the hand reach furtively into 
the trench coat, and wondered if the other was reaching for a 
weapon. He followed the suddenly alert expression, glancing 
towards the doorway.

"I think I'm about to absolve myself of some of my debts. I 
do believe Mr. Mulder has arrived."

As if on cue, the agent materialized in the doorway. The 
Englishman blinked in surprise. He hadn't heard Mulder approach 
at all. The man had appeared almost out of thin air. He hid his 
nervousness, however. He was painfully aware of which cards he 
held, and they were definitely not the favorable kind, something 
he was quite unused to.

Mulder tossed a quick glance around the vast room before his 
eyes settled on the two people waiting for him. He walked towards 
them, coming to a stop a few steps away. He raised an eyebrow at 
the Englishman, but spared a small smile for the other man.

"You're looking better than the last time I saw you."

"I should hope so, Agent Mulder. The last time you saw me 
was at my funeral."

Mulder grinned at the thin attempt at humor before turning 
serious. He looked from his old informant to the taller man next 
to him. "I must say I didn't expect you."

"My daughter is Gwynneth Neville."

This earned a knowing nod from Mulder as he recognized the 
name. "Ah, of course. Elizabeth Neville... one of the children in 
Virginia. Your grandkid?" He saw the man nod. "And you allowed 
that?"

"I allowed it, Agent Mulder," came the bitter response, "as 
much as your father allowed your sister's abduction. Neither of 
us were given a choice. Fortunately for me, unlike your father, I 
am in a position to do something about it before it is too late."

"I see. And getting my partner back, what's that? A fringe 
benefit for helping you?"

The Englishman gritted his teeth. "Do not make me regret my 
actions, Agent Mulder."

"You do realize that the others in your group will know 
where I got my information from?" Mulder waited for the hesitant 
nod. "Our mutual friend here," he said, gesturing towards his 
informant, "probably doesn't need to fear any repercussions from 
this little adventure of yours. You, on the other hand... I may 
not be able to protect you."

"I didn't expect you to. I made my choices. I found 
something more important than the work... my family. Now I have 
to live with those choices."

Mulder nodded, accepting the answer. "Okay. What do you have 
for me?"

The two men looked at each other. Finally, at a nod from his 
companion, the Englishman reached into his pocket. He pulled out 
a small package wrapped in paper and handed it to Mulder.

"What's this?" Mulder asked, puzzled. He unwrapped it to 
reveal a tiny vial. He held it up to the dim light, seeing the 
liquid inside splash around.

"A vaccine, Agent Mulder. A cure for the black oil virus."

"That's all there is? This will be enough for my partner and 
all the children?"

The question earned him a snort. "Be grateful I was able to 
get that much for you. You will have to employ Agent Scully's 
redoubtable skills to replicate more from that sample."

"Fine. And their location?"

"On the paper."

Mulder glanced at the paper that had been wrapped around the 
vial. He frowned at the set of numbers written on it. They seemed 
so familiar. His face cleared as he made the connection. Of 
course, it would figure. When it rained... "Not another one. Let 
me guess, an underwater base on the East Pacific Rise?" he asked, 
grinning at the stunned expression on their faces.

"You know about it!?"

Mulder shrugged. With the information from Scully's brother, 
the deduction had been fairly easy. He felt something he rarely 
did from his previous meetings with shadowy informants. A measure 
of control. "I try to keep informed. Although I do wish you'd 
pick your bases in the continental United States. Do you have any 
idea how expensive these trips are getting to be? Not to mention 
the inconvenience." He sighed.

"I'll be sure to bring up the topic at our next meeting," 
the Englishman responded wryly.

Mulder nodded in acknowledgement, then turned to the other 
man. "I suppose I owe you my thanks once again. Although you 
know, if you keep doing this, it's going to be hard to keep 
yourself hidden away."

"I can take care of myself, Agent Mulder. Being dead gives a 
certain freedom that I haven't enjoyed in a long time. Although I 
suppose you're no stranger to the idea. Considering how many 
times you yourself have come back from the dead, I'm surprised no 
one found out about your latest effort."

Mulder could see the confusion setting in on the 
Englishman's face at the strange turn in the conversation. "I was 
lucky," he said simply. He rewrapped the vial within the paper, 
placing the package carefully within his coat. "Thank you both 
for this. I hope... well... just, take care," he said, looking 
directly at the Englishman at his last words. He then turned and 
left without another word.

Behind him, the two men glanced at each other, both silently 
wishing the agent luck, praying he wouldn't need it, but knowing 
that he probably would.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Sickbay
USS Enterprise-D
Sunday, April 11, 2371
1937 hours

"How long?"

Crusher turned to the man asking the question. She saw him 
standing by the biobed, his hands holding his wife's. His gaze 
never left hers, although she had closed her eyes over an hour 
ago.

"I'm not sure. I can't actually detect the virus itself 
within her body." The doctor's gaze swept over her console, 
trying to make sense of the readings displayed there. "I'm trying 
to determine if she's been successfully infected. She's slipped 
into a coma, which is common to the first stages of the 
infection."

Suddenly, there was a flurry of beeps and alarms as the 
medical sensors started reading... something. Crusher's eyes 
widened as she saw the readouts displayed on the screens. "It's 
starting..." she whispered.

Mulder looked up from his wife's face, turning to see 
Crusher engrossed in the instrument panel in front of her. 
"What's starting? What's going on?" he asked.

"I think..." Crusher began, then paused as another set of 
beeps sounded. Her fingers flew over the console, acknowledging 
the alarm, and keeping track of the various pieces of information 
being displayed. "Yes, I'm positive," she continued, "It looks 
like her body's starting to succumb to the infection."

"What about the alarms?"

Crusher looked up from the console to meet Mulder's eyes. 
She took a deep breath, trying to figure out how to tell him. She 
finally decided on keeping it short and to the point. "Complete 
renal failure. Her kidneys and liver have been compromised, and 
her heart is starting to show severe arrhythmia. I'm also reading 
some anomalous activity around her brain stem." She saw the 
shocked expression on Mulder's face, and tried to explain. "The 
virus seems to start working at different times for different 
people. But once it starts, it causes massive organ failure, 
accompanied by a shutdown of the cerebral cortex. I suppose it is 
a testament to how powerful her immune system is that it took 
this long for even these first signs of the infection."

"Is she in any pain?" Mulder asked, a slight vein of fear 
lacing his voice. He knew he should probably have thought of this 
before. Although, he wasn't sure exactly what he could do should 
the answer be positive. When Crusher shook her head, he let out a 
small breath of relief.

"No," Crusher replied. "Based on what I know, and Dana's 
medical readouts, I think the virus is shutting down her sensory 
and nervous system. She's not feeling any pain." 'Or anything 
else, for that matter,' she thought to herself.

She had discussed the possibility with her aunt earlier. 
Deanna's assessment of the infected crewmen's state of mind rang 
through her head. Right about now, Dana's would be completely cut 
off from her senses. She hated to think of what the unconscious 
woman must be going through. While her rational mind could 
understand the inevitable progress of the infection, a part of 
her would be terrified at the sensory deprivation. As Deanna had 
mentioned, the humanoid psyche just wasn't built to stand that 
kind of loneliness for long.

Another alarm beeped from the console, bringing her 
attention back to the present. "The brain stem is shutting down. 
I'm detecting a decrease in her neurotransmitter activity." She 
silently watched as the neurotransmitter levels in her cerebral 
cortex fluctuated wildly, the besieged immune system trying 
desperately to combat the alien organisms. Her hands twitched, 
her mind calling out almost immediately for a hypo of 
tricordrazine as she made the automatic diagnosis. She sighed, 
trying to convince her body to remain calm and let the virus run 
its course. A lifetime of training warred with what her mind was 

telling her to do. To stand by and watch as a patient died, 
without trying to do everything in her power to save them.

Mulder simply nodded as Crusher regularly gave him updates 
about his wife's condition. He'd long since tuned her out; it had 
simply become too painful to do otherwise. He just sat by her 
side, his fingers lightly stroking her hands. He raised a hand to 
caress her cheek. "It's going to be fine, Scully," he whispered, 
leaning in close to her ear. "You hear me? You're going to beat 
this damn virus, and you're going to come back to me."

From her position behind the instruments, Crusher watched 
him talk to her aunt. She'd already told him that, in all 
probability, Dana wouldn't be able to hear him. Not even 
subconsciously. He had merely smiled at her, and continued with 
his soft words. For a second, she felt a pang of jealousy, a 
sense of loss, a feeling of wanting what they so obviously had. 
She could almost see the connection between them. Not for the 
first time, she silently wondered what would have happened had 
she had the courage to take Jean-Luc up on his offer after their 
adventure on Kesprytt III. She shook her head, pushing the 
thoughts to the back of her mind, trying to concentrate on the 
matter at hand.

She glanced up at the chronometer. It was now about two 
hours since her aunt had slipped into the coma. She'd watched the 
brain activity levels jump all over the scale as they slowly, but 
surely, dropped. Meanwhile, there was hardly a single organ in 
her body that still worked. That she was still alive was in 
itself a miracle. Although Crusher was not sure this qualified as 
an existence. She silently prayed the ordeal would be over soon.

Finally the neurotransmitter levels dropped to zero, just as 
her heart gave up after one final faint beat. It was over. She 
swallowed, her eyes shut tight. A single droplet escaped, 
trailing down her cheek. When she opened her eyes again, she saw 
Mulder looking at her with an expression on his face that she 
hoped never to have to see ever again. He knew, she realized. 
'I'm so sorry, Mulder,' she thought to herself, although she 
couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. Instead she walked 
over to stand beside him, her hand coming up to squeeze his 
shoulder.

He could feel the quickening slowly fading. He knew what was 
happening, and he clutched Scully's hand that much tighter, 
knowing within every cell in his body that he could do nothing to 
stop it. And hating himself for it. When the final spark died, a 
strangled gasp escaped his lips. He looked down at his partner of 
over three and a half centuries, his wife, his soulmate, his very 
life. She lay there, so still, he could almost imagine that she 
was just asleep. He leaned down to place a gentle kiss on her 
forehead. "Don't keep me waiting too long, huh Scully?" he said 
softly, turning to catch the pained gaze from their niece. He 
turned back to look down at Scully. When he felt the hand come to 
rest on his shoulder, he placed one of his own over it, the two 
of them silently sharing each other's pain.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

White.

Nothing but white.

She turned, trying to figure out where she was. And saw 
another infinite expanse of white in front of her. She frowned. 
She knew something was wrong. There should have been color, 
pictures. Instead, there was this all encompassing white that 
surrounded her.

She looked around, her eyes coming to rest on... something. 
A faint speck of color amidst the uniform white. Her eyes 
narrowed trying to make out what it was. And widened as she 
realized it was growing.

A few moments later, she knew she'd been wrong. Horribly 
wrong. It wasn't a color that was replacing the white. It was 
something else. A nothing. A void. She turned, and started to 
run. A glance over her shoulder, or what passed for a shoulder in 
this reality anyway, and she could see it, gaining on her. 
Slowly, but inexorably. She tried to increase her speed, but she 
knew it was useless. She could almost feel the darkness behind 
her now. It licked at her heels, dogging her, trying to claim 
her. But she wouldn't allow it! Resolutely, she sped up.

 She could see the darkness beside her now, eating up the 
blank white canvas, tearing apart her... her what? She couldn't 
remember, she thought, panicked. The dark flowed around her, 
moving past her, cloying in its sickly sweetness. It offered her 
an escape from the not knowing, from the unknown. It offered her 
sanctuary, but she knew she couldn't afford the cost. It was most 
definitely too high. She refused.

The darkness reared its head, outraged. This puny thing 
dared to defy it!? It moved closer, surrounding her now. Soon the 
only piece of white left was a small circle around her... feet? 
She could see it shrinking in front of her. She tried to fight 
it. But she was so tired. So very tired. It would be so easy 
to... to just let go. She paused, an image of a man suddenly in 
front of her. Who was he? She didn't recognize him, but she knew 
he was waiting for her. Somewhere. And she knew he wanted her to 
fight. For some reason, it was important. And she knew him, 
didn't she? He was important too. She knew it, deep in the very 
core of who she was. Very well then, she would fight!

That was her last thought before the darkness was complete.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Now, all we can do is wait," Crusher said to the three of 
them.

Guinan and Mulder sat at one of the desks, looking at the 
doctor as she finished explaining what had happened. Crusher had 
seen little reason to continue to keep Picard behind a quarantine 
field any longer while in Sickbay, since the rest of them were 
already immune and wouldn't spread the virus. But for now, she 
decided not to change the status quo. So, from behind an 
invisible shield, the captain of the Enterprise looked out at the 
three of them. Crusher had also made sure to erect a force field 
around Scully before beginning the experiment. Of course, this 
was all done with the assumption that Picard was still 
uninfected. If not, the entire point was already moot.

And try as she might, Crusher still hadn't been able to 
actually track the viral organisms themselves within the body. It 
seemed almost as if they'd been engineered to mimic readings from 
parts of their host bodies to escape detection. Had she not seen 
the evidence of their exit from the one casualty they'd had so 
far, she might not even have figured out that it was a virus 
causing this epidemic. Although, she supposed that was the point. 
By the time anyone became aware of the threat, it would be more 
than likely that the epidemic would have already spread to a 
significant number of any population, passed along by beings 
unaware of even being infected until the virus decided to strike. 
It was one of the hallmarks of a bioengineered weapon.

She sighed, her glance falling on the somber man sitting 
beside Guinan. None of them were unaware of the toll this was 
obviously taking on Mulder. Crusher looked away from the downcast 
man, her eyes meeting Guinan's own dark ones. Just seeing him so 
distraught caused a wave of anguish to wash through her. She 
looked at the bartender helplessly.

Guinan smiled faintly at her, then rose and moved beside 
Mulder. "Hey, it's going to work out, Mulder. You'll see," she 
whispered softly. But she could tell that the words weren't even 
reaching him. "Mulder..." She sighed. It was rare that she 
couldn't find the words to help someone, at least for a little 
while. But she couldn't imagine what she could say to him to help 
him. He needed to get his mind off the current situation. And 
they weren't exactly helping by simply sitting around, 
commiserating about the patient in the next room. She looked up, 
meeting Picard and Crusher's eyes with a sense of defeat so rare 
for her.

From his vantage point a few feet away, Picard had taken one 
look at Mulder, and known immediately that the man had not been 
prepared for this. After all, how could one prepare to watch 
their loved one die? Picard silently wondered how he might feel 
should it be Beverly lying on the table, instead of someone he 
hardly knew.

Of course, those thoughts inevitably led down paths he'd 
walked all too often. He turned away from the distraught man to 
look again at his chief medical officer. She stood not ten feet 
away from him, yet so unreachable. And not just because of the 
force field separating them at the moment. He'd often thought 
about taking their relationship past that one last line. He knew 
they both wanted to, and silently wondered exactly what it was 
that was keeping them apart.

He'd even tried bringing it up after their feelings for each 
other had been confirmed on the Kesprytt homeworld. Those few 
days when they had been telepathically 'attached' to one another 
had been some of the most trying, as well as the most happiest of 
his life. To finally be able to let her know, to not have to hide 
it anymore. It had been such a relief. He had thought that once 
back on board the Enterprise, they would definitely continue what 
had begun down on the planet.

But, to his surprise, she had refused. He had seen the fear 
in her eyes as she'd uttered the words. He sighed, wondering what 
her reasons had been, what could possibly have caused that terror 
stricken look that had passed across her face for a split second 
before she'd managed to cover it up. It was almost as if, with 
the dissolution of their link, all the old fears had once again 
taken root, more in force than ever before. And with her refusal, 
he'd pulled back. It was so much safer to simply carry on, just 
as they'd always done.

Still he couldn't help wondering where they would be at this 
very moment, had their dinner that night gone in a slightly 
different direction. If only... he sighed. Somehow, so many 
things seemed to come back to that one single phrase. He felt a 
sense of pain as he thought of all the lost opportunities, all 
the missed chances. If only... He looked at her, and saw exactly 
what he was missing. He closed his eyes, suddenly feeling dizzy 
with the thoughts he usually kept hidden so deeply. He shook his 
head, trying to clear the cobwebs that seemed to have suddenly 
take up residence in there. When he opened his eyes again, his 
vision was still clouded. It was then that he knew he was in 
trouble.

Crusher met Picard's eyes, and saw him suddenly close them 
as if in pain. She wondered if he was feeling the same thing she 
was, if he felt the helplessness she did at not being to help 
this man.

It might have surprised her to know Picard's thoughts from 
just moments before. Her thoughts mirrored his as she wondered 
what her own reaction might be to seeing him on that bed instead 
of Dana. Lord knew, she'd had to do that exact thing more than a 
few times in the past, considering the number of times he'd been 
hurt, while she desperately tried to heal him. And each time, 
she'd convinced herself that this was the reason she'd refused 
his offer after Kesprytt. It was just so much safer. No love, but 
no pain either. 

She'd had to pick up the pieces of her heart after Jack had 
died. And she didn't think she could stand to do that again. She 
thought back to when Ronin had offered her what seemed like the 
perfect solution at the time. Someone to let her forget Jean-Luc, 
someone who wouldn't leave her, someone who would always be 
there... She closed her eyes at the thought, then opened them 
again when she heard it.

"Beverly..." The name came out in a soft breath. Crusher 
looked up to see Picard raise a hand, as if to support himself. 
"I...," she heard him start to say, just as his eyes rolled up in 
his head. She was up and moving towards the forcefield before his 
body hit the floor. "Jean-Luc!!" she cried, "No...!"

The field lowered at her command, her tricorder already 
beeping out readings on his body. It only confirmed her fears; 
the virus had claimed another. If the readings on her tricorder 
weren't proof enough, the blackness clouding his eyes when she 
pulled back on an eyelid confirmed it. Quickly shutting down and 
locking away her feelings one more time, just as she'd always 
done before, she prepared to put him in stasis along with the 
rest of the infected crew. She felt Mulder come up beside her, 
laying a hand on her shoulder, echoing her actions from earlier. 
Looking up into his eyes, she thought she saw a glimmer of 
understanding in the hazel depths. She hastily blinked away an 
errant tear as she and Mulder bent to lift the prone body.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

S.S. Meercat, Cargo Hold
East Pacific Rise, Pacific Ocean
Friday, December 11, 1998
11:24 AM

"Now, remember," the man said, pushing stringy blond hair 
out of his eyes. "We've tried to match your air mixture to the 
recommended combination for the depths you're going to be 
reaching. It's not deep enough that we have to use liquid oxygen 
to maintain pressure, but it's still a doozy of a mixture."

The two men were alone in the room. Next to them, a small 
submersible vessel bobbed in the moon pool in the center of the 
hold. Both were carrying what Mulder thought looked more like 
space suits than any diving equipment he'd ever seen.

"This isn't any ordinary dive, Mulder," the blond added, 
seeing the look on the agent's face. "We think we got the air 
mixture pretty close to what you'll come across in their base. 
But it'll still be up to you to check the air if you decide to 
remove the suits."

"We know, Langly," Mulder replied. "I still wish we could 
have gotten a bigger sub though."

"This was the best we could do, Mulder," Frohike said. The 
two men stopped, turning to watch the short man walking past the 
cables on the deck as he approached them. "Subs that can reach 
those depths aren't too easy to come across, especially on such 
short notice."

"I know, I know," Mulder sighed. "You guys still did a great 
job getting us this far. Thanks."

"You know us, Mulder," Langly replied. "Anything to shaft 
these guys."

All three turned at the creak of metal that echoed around 
the room. They saw the hatch on the sub being thrown open with a 
clang as a diminutive figure popped up through the opening.

"Langly, Frohike," Scully greeted the Gunmen as she pulled 
herself out of the sub.

"Hey, Scully," they said in return.

"Now, as we said before," Langly added, "this sub has quite 
a few nifty features. It's got an adjustable pressure system, so 
it'll pressurize to match the ambient pressure levels outside as 
you descend. By the time you reach the coordinates, you should be 
at optimum pressure. This way, you won't have to spend any extra 
time equalizing down there."

As soon as Scully moved away from the hatch, the third agent 
climbed out. "Are those the suits?" Colton asked as he reached 
for the suits Langly still held.

"Yeah," he replied, handing them over. "You won't need these 
unless you actually decide to leave the sub. We're not sure what 
you'll find down there. The acoustic baffle that they've got set 
up doesn't allow any readings for about a mile around the 
coordinates. So you'll have to decide once you get there."

All three agents nodded as they entered the sub. Colton 
immediately set aside the suits and moved up to the front, 
flicking on various switches and controls. Slowly, the instrument 
panels came alive, lighting up as the vessel powered up. Among 
the various instruments, Mulder could make out what looked like 
sonar displays and depth gauges.

Scully and he looked up at the two Gunmen looking back down 
at them from outside. "Good luck," they said, moving back as they 
flipped the hatch shut.

All of a sudden, the agents felt the silence surround them. 
Cut off from the rest of the world, they felt as if they were now 
alone in their journey. They heard the hiss of air around them, 
and looked to the front where Colton was busy with the controls. 
They felt the floor move beneath them, and moved to take the 
seats near the back.

"All systems check out," Colton said into his headset as he 
manipulated the controls. "Preparing to dive." He waited for an 
acknowledgement from Byers in the control room of the boat, then 
with a final "Over and out," he flipped off the radio. The agents 
had already decided against radio contact until they were on 
their way back. It would minimize any risk of their being 
detected. Quietly, the sub started sinking.

The small windows at the front of the sub and the portholes 
on the side provided the agents with a limited view of the 
outside environment. They watched as the light blue of the ocean 
waters turned into a deep twilight just as Mulder noted the depth 
gauge reading about 65 meters below the ocean surface. They sank 
at a steady one half meters per second, the windows slowly 
growing darker as they descended.

It was almost noon now. On the surface, it was no doubt 
clear and sunny. Down here, however, the inky darkness was 
absolute. Half an hour and about 700 meters down, the only 
sources of light, except for some slightly bioluminescent 
creatures, were the small running lights on the outside of the 
small vessel as it knifed through the dark waters, heading in a 
steady downward direction.

Scully sighed as she glanced out the viewports, staring into 
the forbidding nothingness, interspersed with the occasional 
luminous sea denizens as they wafted up past the window in chains 
of ghostly green. With difficulty, she pulled her eyes away from 
the hypnotizing darkness to look around the dim interior of the 
cabin.

Up in front, the two men sat quietly, staring intently at 
the instrument panel in front of them. Scully could see the light 
from the radar and sonar screens casting an eerie glow on their 
faces. She walked up to join them.

"Scully," Mulder acknowledged her presence, moving over to 
make room for her in the cramped cabin.

"How long till we get there?" she asked, curious blue eyes 
taking in the instrument readouts.

Colton looked up from where he was piloting the small 
submersible. "It shouldn't be too long," he replied. "This 
acoustic baffle is creating a pretty sizeable dead zone around 
the location your informants gave us. But I'd say another hour or 
so to reach the actual coordinates."

"Good," the redhead replied in relief. "I want to get this 
over and done with."

Colton nodded in mutual desire, turning back to the 
instruments.

Mulder looked from the other agent to his partner, wondering 
about the grudging respect that had somehow developed between 
them. Colton had even been level-headed and calm when they had 
initially discussed this trip.

Of course, the agent mused in amusement, it might have had 
more to do with the fact that of the three of them, Colton was 
the only one even remotely qualified to be here, than any sense 
of camaraderie between the three of them. When Mulder had 
returned from his visit with the two informants, he'd spoken 
first with his partner.

Lynn's location, they both knew, would pose a pretty large 
problem. If the information on the piece of paper was to be 
believed, the base was not only somewhere in the Pacific Ocean 
out in the middle of nowhere, but also a good one and a half 
miles under the water's surface. The trip to the base in Peru 
seemed almost trivial in comparison. He looked at the slowly 
increasing numbers on the depth gauge, then up at the windows 
that showed nothing except the blackness outside, speckled with 
the occasional glow-in-the-dark fish.

A call to the Gunmen and some of their sources had gotten 
the agents access to a submersible that they could use. Of 
course, the problem now was a qualified pilot for the vessel. 
Neither of them had ever dived before, let alone have any 
experience in the conditions they would encounter at the depths 
they would need to reach. And both were leery of involving any 
more people than absolutely necessary. A pilot neither of them 
knew was just one more complication they did not need.

They had debated whether it would be wise to discuss 
Mulder's information with Colton. While neither of them 
particularly liked him, Lynn was his fiancee after all. After 
much deliberation, both had reluctantly decided that the man 
deserved to know. Of course, he'd immediately wanted to accompany 
them, something neither of them was prepared to allow.

Surprisingly, Colton simply stared at them, then actually 
seemed to think about it rather than shouting his mind as they 
might've expected. Perhaps, the agents thought, the man wasn't a 
total loser after all. With a smirk, he'd asked them how they 
intended to get to the location Mulder's informants had given 
him. When the X-files agents had sheepishly confessed their 
predicament, he'd just laughed.

"Mulder," he'd said, "only you two could come up with a 
situation like this. It may interest the two of you to know that 
I got a dual degree in marine oceanography and sociology as an 
undergraduate."

At their puzzled expressions, he'd continued, "Oceanography? 
Which involves diving?" Seeing the realization dawn on their 
faces, he'd added, "I have more than enough qualifications to 
pilot your vessel, not to mention the actual licenses to do so. 
So, I guess I'm coming with you guys after all."

And there hadn't been a whole lot the agents could say to 
refuse him. After all, they'd agreed, it did solve a particularly 
pressing problem in the time they had available.

Even so, it had taken them almost the whole week to get 
everything ready. It had taken Scully nearly that long to get the 
vaccine sample analyzed and replicated into sufficient amounts 
for about a dozen people. They had also used the time to get 
familiar with some basic diving and safety techniques for their 
trip. But most importantly, it had given Colton a chance to 
recuperate from his injury, while getting to know the X-files 
agents a little better.

Mulder didn't know what had changed, but he definitely knew 
better than to look it in the mouth. Colton, meanwhile, couldn't 
help but feel a sense of excitement at finally being able to do 
something, anything, to get Lynn back. The night he'd awoken in 
the hospital had been the worst in his life, he thought. Now... 
now, he had a chance to go after her. To rescue her. The moment 
he knew the other two would have need of his skills, it had taken 
all his self-control to keep from shouting for joy.

Which brought them to their current situation. Cramped 
inside a small six man submersible on their way down to the 
depths of the Pacific Ocean, headed for the ultimate unknown. And 
given the lack of any sonar readings, no inkling of what awaited 
them.

And worst of all, each of them was only too aware of the 
fact that, while they had been tremendously lucky to get their 
hands on this sub at all, even if they found any of the 
abductees, at the most they would only be able to fit three or 
four of them into the vessel. If they found any more than that 
down there, it would tear a pretty big hole in their rescue 
attempt. Faced with the choice between attempting the rescue as 
soon as possible, or wait almost indefinitely for a better vessel 
to become available, they had decided on the former.

Mulder sighed for what seemed to him to be the millionth 
time. So many things could go wrong with this trip. He'd thought 
the base in Peru had been hard to break into. But compared to 
this, that one had been a piece of cake.

"Another 20 minutes," Colton's voice interrupted the 
silence. The depth readout read about 1900 meters below sea-
level.

Mulder's eyes wandered from the steadily rising numbers to 
the nearby panel. He frowned as he registered the readings. "Hey, 
Colton. Is there something wrong with that temperature gauge?" He 
turned to glance outside the dark windows. "It looks like it's 
getting warmer."

Colton glanced at the readout, his brows furrowing in 
thought. He then looked up, following Mulder's gaze outside. His 
face cleared as he realized what it was. "No, I think it really 
is getting warmer. We're getting pretty close to the rise. It's 
volcanic in many places, so we're probably near one of the 
surface vents. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised to find the base 
using one of the bigger vents for their power and heat." His eyes 
drifted back to the depth readout. "Get ready, guys. We're almost 
there."

Both the X-files agents leaned forward in their seats, eyes 
straining through the outer darkness as they tried to make out 
any possible details. They could feel the sub slowing down, and 
almost without warning, they were there. The forward lights 
bathed a rocky wall just ahead and beneath them. They rested in 
the water, hanging motionless about 2500 meters below the ocean 
surface. Below them, the floor stretched away into the distance, 
a rubble of igneous rock that somehow seemed to resemble an 
ancient city, worn down by time and left to erode and die. The 
lava rock formations looked like pillars and walls that in places 
stood nearly 20 feet high, forming mock cathedrals and spires 
everywhere.

The agents shivered at the empty and desolate feeling the 
sight evoked. Colton slowly manipulated the controls, and they 
felt themselves moving again. As they got closer to the rocky 
floor, they could make out red tube-like worms that covered the 
surface of the rock. Nestled amid the slowly writhing worm 
colony, the agents saw several small crabs, wiggling their claws 
as they scampered by. Long, thin fish lay motionless among the 
worms, until the backwash from the sub propellers nudged them out 
of their hiding places, causing them to dash out and about in 
panic.

Scully sucked in a breath as they moved over a rise, the 
floor seemingly dropping away beneath them, vanishing into the 
never-ending darkness outside the circle of the sub's lights. 
They slowly descended, hugging the ocean floor as they approached 
the coordinates.

Slowly, the ground started rising again, getting steeper as 
they moved forward. They crested another rise, and gasped at the 
sight. A few hundred yards ahead and above them, the structure 
sat, nestled against the cliff wall, standing about four stories 
tall. It loomed above them, perched on a ledge extending out from 
the cliff face. The base exuded a dim, almost ethereal glow, the 
lights studding its exterior winking ominously in the murky 
darkness.

Colton brought the sub to a stop, then put it immediately 
into reverse. The base disappeared from view as they fell behind 
the rise. He slowly set the vessel down into a niche next to a 
bare ledge of rock. Ensuring that they were securely attached to 
the rock, he started shutting down the engines.

"Well, we're here," he said, flicking off the last of the 
switches. The noise from the propellers died away, leaving them 
surrounded by a thick silence. They looked at each other in the 
dim lighting. "At least we know your information was correct."

Mulder's eyes narrowed in thought at the comment as he 
realized something. "You never really believed it, did you?"

Colton shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, a secret underwater 
base almost one and a half miles under the Pacific? Don't get me 
wrong. I was praying that we'd find something down here. But, 
well..." He sighed.

The other two smiled at him in wry understanding. "So," 
Scully said, breaking the silence, "now what?"

"I want to take a look at the video of that building," 
Mulder said. The sub was equipped with a front mounted video 
camera, set next to the forward lights. They'd activated it when 
they'd reached the ocean floor. For now, Mulder didn't want to 
risk moving out of their hiding place until he could get a better 
idea of the ground layout.

Colton nodded, reaching to activate the playback controls. 
The three of them watched the screen intently, initially seeing 
nothing more than the dark rocky ground interspersed with the 
small inhabitants of the deep. They saw the rise, as they'd moved 
over it, then the base as it came into view. Colton paused the 
video, freezing the image of the structure in the middle of the 
screen.

"Hey Colton," Mulder asked, his eyes still on the image. 
"Ever seen the Abyss?" His mouth stretched into a small grin when 
he felt two pairs of eyes fasten on him in surprise.

"Oh, god! Please don't tell me you're expecting a UFO down 
here, Mulder," Colton said, referring to the last scenes in the 
movie.

"Relax, Colton. I just meant the general situation."

"That's a relief," Colton replied dryly. He turned back to 
the image on the screen. It looked like a conglomeration of 
modules, each sticking out of the overall structure in every 
possible direction. But they all seemed to be attached together. 
Colton explained that it was probably easier to build and 
transport down here in sections. He pointed to the areas where 
the modules connected with each other, noting that there might be 
some sort of airlock system in place at the junctions to regulate 
pressure.

His eyes wandered over the rest of the structure, noting the 
modules near the top. He was puzzled at their smaller size 
compared to the ones below them, until he realized what they 
probably were. Escape pods. Following the structure down, he saw 
something that brought a satisfied smile to his lips. "Guys," he 
called their attention to the module. "I think I may have found a 
solution to our problem. Check this out." His fingers traced the 
area as he looked up at them. He saw their faces clear as they 
realized what he'd seen. The lower half of a submersible similar 
to theirs jutted out of the bottom of one of the lower modules.

Suddenly Scully's face sobered as a thought occurred to her. 
"Do you think they know we're here?" she asked.

Colton and Mulder looked at each other. Finally Mulder shook 
his head. "I didn't see any activity around the base. I think 
whatever measures they're taking to block outside sonar might be 
affecting their own scanners as well."

"Of course," Colton chimed in, "that doesn't mean we'll be 
able to stick around in there too long after we get inside."

"Agreed," Mulder said, nodding. "I wonder how much security 
they'll have. I doubt they're even expecting any unexpected 
visitors down here."

"Hmm...," Scully grunted. "Well, we'll find out." She stood 
and moved to the back of the compartment where the suits had been 
stowed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The room was large, with several cables and wiring lining 
the floors and adorning the nearby walls. Pale fluorescent lights 
cast overlapping shadows over the floor. Near the middle of the 
room, water gently sloshed against the surface of the vessel that 
floated, mostly submerged, in a square pool about 10 yards on its 
side.

The silence in the room was unbroken except for the rhythmic 
squeaks as the man tightened the bolt on a panel on the sub's 
surface. To take his mind off the monotony of his work, he pursed 
his lips, about to hum a tune. He never saw the white gloved hand 
reach up out of the water between him and the vessel. He didn't 
even register anything out of the ordinary until he suddenly 
found his airway being cut off, so quick was the motion.

"Urk!" He dropped his wrench, his hands instinctively 
reaching up to claw at the vice that seemed to have gripped his 
throat. Before he even had a chance to struggle, he felt himself 
being pulled forward. Losing his balance, he tumbled head first 
into the water, coming face to face with what he thought was an 
apparition. The air in his lungs escaped in a flurry of bubbles 
as he uttered an involuntary scream upon seeing the white clad 
figure. A face black as night stared back at him. Of course, he 
had only a moment to register the image before the hand returned. 
This time the fist connected with his jaw, and his head lolled 
back limply as he lost consciousness.

The water cascaded off the figure as it heaved itself and 
its burden up the ladder by the side of the pool. With a grunt, 
the figure tossed the unconscious man over the side, then pulled 
itself up and out of the water. It climbed onto the slightly wet 
deck, looking around to make sure they were alone, then turned 
and reached down to give a hand to the two others following it.

Once all three were out of the pool, they quietly checked 
their wrist mounted gauges. Satisfied with the ambient air 
pressure, they reached up and unfastened their collars, removing 
the helmets and cautiously sniffing the air. The agents then 
proceeded to remove their suits and place them out of sight 
behind some equipment. Quietly they looked around for any cameras 
or security monitors, but found none.

Looking around they saw a corridor leading off the far wall, 
ending at a door on the other side. As they were about to move 
towards it, the faint groans from the unconscious man captured 
their attention.

"He's coming around," Scully said. "What do you want to do 
with him?"

"We could use his knowledge of the base's layout and crew 
complement," Colton replied.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other, then nodded. Mulder 
moved to kneel beside the slowly recovering man. He saw the man's 
eyes flutter open, widening when he saw the figure leaning over 
him.

"Wha...?"

Before the man could complete his thought, he was 
interrupted by a low voice. "Listen very carefully," Mulder 
breathed, a firm hand gripping the front of his shirt, "and maybe 
you might make it through this in one piece. Got it?" He waited 
for the man to meet his eyes, then continued, "Now, we want to 
know where that door over there leads." He nodded towards the 
door at the end of the corridor.

The man simply stared at him, his face set in refusal.

Mulder glared back, then looked up at the other two. "Why 
don't you two go see if you can get that door open? I'll see if I 
can persuade our friend to cooperate."

Colton seemed about to object when Scully nodded, then 
gently placed a hand against his back, pulling him along with 
her.

Mulder watched them move away, then turned back to the man. 
He leaned forward, his face inches away from the prone man as he 
pulled him closer. His voice dropped further until it was almost 
a hiss. "Now, where were we?"

The man felt the voice lower, the menacing tone sending 
pinpricks of ice up his spine. He gulped, looking up into his 
interrogator's face, and blinked. For a fleeting moment, he 
thought he saw the hazel eyes glow. And then... he frowned as he 
tried to figure out exactly what it was he was so concerned 
about.

The other two returned in a few minutes to see a curious 
sight. Mulder and their captive were kneeling on the floor, 
hunched over. Coming closer, they could make out Mulder looking 
over the man's shoulder as he drew something on a piece of paper.

Mulder looked up at them, a small smile stretching his lips. 
"Our friend's been very helpful," he said.

The other two looked down at the paper, seeing a rough 
diagram of the base.

Mulder waited for the man to finish, then moved the paper so 
the others could see it as well. He pointed to several marks that 
dotted the map. "He said that there are four technicians on the 
base, including him. These three cross marks here are their 
probable location. These four hashes here are the four 
researchers they have onsite. Apparently they rotate through them 
every once in a while. Other than these eight, he said there were 
about a half dozen security personnel scattered throughout the 
base."

Colton's jaw dropped at the information. "And you managed to 
get all this from him in the time we were gone?" he asked in 
disbelief. "How?"

Mulder shrugged. "I have many skills," he grinned.

"What about the children?" Scully asked. "And Lynn?"

"Ah, look here." Mulder pointed to a section of the base 
near their current position. "They're somewhere in this area. He 
couldn't give me any more details than that. Apparently, that 
section is off-limits to the tech personnel when they have 
'merchandise' in there." His tone conveyed his disgust as he 
repeated the terminology the tech had used.

Colton glanced up from the map, his eyes falling on the 
tech. He shuddered at the blank look on the man's face, so devoid 
of any emotion. He silently wondered what Mulder had done to the 
man to get the information. It almost seemed like he'd been... 
drugged. He turned back to the other two, realizing that Scully 
was saying something.

"We got the door open, and it looks like it leads to the 
next module. I think it's some sort of storage area; there're 
lots of crates and boxes in there. If we go by this map," Scully 
said, tracing a section on the paper, "then we'll need to go out 
that door, and up the ladder on the far end." She softly tapped 
the paper. "Mulder..." She paused, darting a significant glance 
from him to the captive technician. "If we're going to get all of 
them back down here, we might need a little help."

"I think that can be arranged," Mulder replied, turning 
towards the tech himself. "You'll help us, won't you?" he softly 
said, his words more of a persuasive statement than a question.

Colton watched open-mouthed as the man calmly nodded his 
head. "What in...?"

Mulder held up a hand to interrupt him. "Don't think about 
it too much, Colton. He's decided it's in his best interest to 
help us. Who're we to tell him otherwise, huh?" He stood up, 
pulling the tech up with him. "Well, lead on, MacDuff. To the 
captives, men." He chuckled as he followed the tech through the 
corridor and past the door, out into the next module.

The other two agents silently followed, shaking their head 
at Mulder's sudden enthusiasm. Scully found herself smiling 
slightly, while Colton simply tried not to wonder whether the 
pressure was starting to get to them.

They'd moved past the scattered crates to reach the ladder 
when Mulder held up a hand to quiet them down. "There's someone 
up there," he whispered, his head tilted to the side as if he was 
listening to something intently.

Colton frowned, looking up the ladder. He saw it lead up 
into what he figured was the module right above. "You sure?" he 
whispered back. "I don't hear anything."

"If Mulder says they're there, they're there," Scully hissed 
at him. "How many?" she asked softly, turning back to Mulder.

Mulder's face tightened in concentration. "Two. They're..." 
He paused, his eyes widening. "Shit! They're getting closer." He 
moved back. "Hide..." he breathed. While the other two 
immediately scrambled away, he turned to the tech. "Distract 
them," he instructed the man, then jumped over and crouched down 
behind one of the boxes next to the ladder.

Not a moment too soon, as it turned out. He'd barely gotten 
out of sight when two figures dropped down the ladder shaft. They 
started in surprise at seeing the lone tech standing there 
staring at them.

"Hey? You ok, man?" one of the two ventured tentatively. 
Both frowned at the lack of any kind of response. They were about 
to move toward the man when he suddenly pursed his lips and 
started whistling.

"What are you..." the other newcomer began, puzzled. 

Behind the crate, Mulder sighed, shaking his head slightly. 
Well, he *had* commanded the man to distract them. He moved, 
jumping over the crate, his fists connecting with their jaws 
before they even noticed his presence. Without a sound, both  
silently sunk to the ground. The tech simply stood there, staring 
at the agent.

"Not what I would have come up with, but still... good work, 
MacDuff," Mulder muttered to the man, then glanced up to see 
Scully and Colton walk towards him. "Three down, eleven to go."

Scully knelt down beside the two men, reaching for their 
belts. She retrieved their sidearms, holding them out for the 
others to see. "These look like really small caliber weapons." 
She handed one to Colton and stuck the other under her own belt. 
"If we're lucky, maybe we'll come across a couple others for you, 
Mulder," she snickered, remembering his penchant for losing his 
sidearm.

"Funny," Mulder retorted dryly. "Well, they probably can't 
fire anything more heavy duty than those down here without 
risking a breach. I suppose this means these two were security." 
He sighed. If Colton hadn't been here, he might have risked 
putting the whammy on these two as well. But, even then, he 
thought their group was already getting conspicuous enough 
without adding a parade of zombies to their ranks. Besides which, 
he rationalized, security personnel rarely made good whammy 
subjects anyway. "Let's tie them up and get on with it," he said 
finally.

A few moments later, the two men were securely immobilized 
using some lengths of cable they found around the room. The 
agents quietly went up the ladder, following behind the whammied 
tech as he led them upwards.

They were unsure whether it was simply luck, or whether the 
tech was just making sure to avoid any of the base personnel, but 
their trip was relatively uneventful. They had almost run into 
some of them a few times, but had managed to duck behind some 
cover in each case. The tech led them through a few more modules, 
and a couple of levels higher, before they reached their 
destination.

They walked into a dimly lit room, empty except for a small 
desk on one side, and a door set almost seamlessly into the 
opposite wall. There was a security card access panel next to the 
door. The agents simply stared at it, then at each other as they 
tried to decide what to do.

"I guess this is the end of the line," Mulder finally 
muttered. He made a show of looking up and down the room they 
were in. "There's never a consortium researcher around when you 
need one," he complained, shaking his head.

As if on cue, they heard some voices in the adjoining 
corridor, moving closer towards them.

"You were saying," Scully retorted, quickly moving into the 
shadows behind the desk in the back of the room. The others 
followed her, blending into the darkness, just as a tall man in a 
white lab coat entered the room.

He paused at the entrance, still talking to whoever it was 
outside. The agents caught his final words, "I'll be right up. I 
want to start the next series of tests on the first lot." They 
pressed further back as the man walked in, stopping next to the 
door to pull out a card from his pocket. He slid the card through 
the reader, then waited as the door clicked open and smoothly 
swung aside.

The man had barely crossed the threshold when the agents 
made their move. He didn't realize anything was wrong until he 
felt the hand slide over his shoulder to cover his mouth. He felt 
the body behind him, holding him tight. The voice next to his ear 
seemed almost deafening in the quiet, yet so soothing as he 
listened to the words.

"I'm going to remove my hand now, and you're not going to 
make a sound. You got me?"

He nodded, finding it strange that he'd even consider doing 
otherwise.

Mulder grinned. 'Chalk up another one to the vampire 
whammy,' he silently congratulated himself. He realized how lucky 
he'd been that the two he'd successfully whammied had been alone. 
He still hadn't quite gotten the hang of putting more than one 
individual under yet. Nonetheless, he moved aside to let Scully 
point her weapon at the man's back. While he'd managed to get the 
man under control without raising Colton's suspicions, he didn't 
want the agent to wonder why every consortium agent Mulder talked 
to was suddenly eager to betray his comrades.

"Where do you keep the merchandise?" Scully asked bluntly, 
anxious to get to the object of their mission. She poked the 
muzzle of the gun into the man's back. While she knew that the 
threat itself didn't actually matter, considering the effects of 
Mulder's unique skills, she still felt better just doing it.

"In there," the researcher pointed ahead of him. "Let me get 
the lights," he added helpfully, reaching to the side.

With a flicker, the room lit up. The agents saw that the 
door had led into a large laboratory. Several tables, some of 
which were occupied with the children they'd come here after, lay 
scattered around the room. Mulder's eyes narrowed as he made out 
four of the seven children.

"And the others?" Colton asked, not seeing his fiancee 
anywhere.

"Over there," came the reply. The researcher pointed to the 
far wall, where there were four more doors similar to the one 
they'd come in through.

Quietly, the agents moved through the room, walking towards 
the indicated doors. On the way, Scully stopped beside the bed of 
the nearest child, noting the boy's pallor. He was strapped down 
to the observation table, an IV running out of his arm, a mask on 
his face leading to a respirator, and a multitude of sensors 
attached all over his body. Beside his table, a bank of readouts 
blinked and hummed as they gathered data about his vital 
statistics.

Scully resisted the temptation to gently touch the boy, to 
reassure him that he wasn't alone any longer. She blinked, 
pushing back the anger she felt. The boy couldn't be more than 
eight years old. That there were people willing to do this to 
such an innocent made her blood boil. She took a deep breath, 
giving the child a wan smile, then moved on to catch up to the 
others. Reaching the far wall, they made use of their host's 
keycard to open the first door. Beyond, a room similar to the one 
they were in housed the rest of the missing children. A quick 
look confirmed that other than the children, the room didn't have 
what they'd been looking for.

"And Agent Horton?" Mulder asked the man.

"In the next room," came the reply. Together, they moved 
over, opening the door to find what they'd been looking for. In a 
smaller room, on the two tables, Alynna Horton and another man 
lay in a similar condition as the children.

"Oh, god!" Colton whispered, immediately stepping into the 
room. He was about to rush over when Scully placed a hand on his 
shoulder to stop him.

Ignoring his quizzical look, Scully turned to the 
researcher. "Are they contagious?" she asked, hoping desperately 
that it wouldn't be the case. She let out a sigh of relief when 
the man shook his head.

"No, of course not!" he replied. "Not at this stage in the 
infection," he said, almost proudly, earning him looks of disgust 
from the agents.

Turning away from him, Scully watched as Colton ran over to 
the table, his hand reaching for Lynn's. He squeezed it 
reassuringly, his other hand moving up to brush aside the blonde 
hair that fell over her forehead. He placed a gentle kiss on her 
brow, then leaned in to whisper softly. "I love you, Lynn. We're 
gonna get you and Nick and the kids out of this. Just hang on, 
okay?"

"Let's go see the other two rooms, shall we?" Mulder said in 
the meantime, wondering how many others might possibly be down 
here. Besides, he thought the mortal agent could use a moment 
alone with his fiancee.

"Of course," the researcher said obligingly, leading the two 
X-files agents out. The next door led to an empty lab, but both 
the agents froze at the what they saw in the last room. On a 
table, similar to the one Lynn was on, lay a dark-skinned woman. 
Two separate IV needles were attached to her, one on each arm. 
The one on the left led to a bag filled with some sort of black 
fluid. By contrast, the second line showed a deep purple liquid 
flowing through it, leading from her arm till it disappeared 
somewhere in the mass of equipment behind the table. But what 
shocked them the most was the soft tingle they both felt. It was 
weak, but definitely recognizable. They looked at each other in 
surprise. The woman inside was an immortal!

Scully frowned as she moved closer, then gasped when she 
realized what the black fluid was. "Mulder...," she whispered in 
a trembling voice. "That's..." She pointed to the black bag with 
a shaking finger.

"The black oil, yes," the researcher supplied in a cheerful 
voice, almost causing Mulder to belt him. He would have to work 
on the attitudes of his whammied subjects, he thought to himself 
as he moved towards Scully.

"What are they doing to her, Scully?"

"It looks like they're continuously infecting her with the 
oil."

"But why...?" Mulder asked.

"She seems to be somehow immune to the effects of the 
virus," the man answered, adjusting his lab coat as he talked. 
"We're trying to see if a concentrated dose will somehow infect 
her successfully. We were curious as to how strong her immune 
system is."

Scully felt sickened at the information. "And that other 
line," she pointed. "What's in it? What else are you giving her?"

"Oh that's the most interesting part," the researcher 
chortled, seemingly excited as if he were about to reveal a great 
secret.

"Could you tone down the happy attitude?" Mulder muttered to 
the man. "It's starting to give me a headache."

The man simply nodded in reply. "That's her blood," he said.

The agents stared back at him in shock, then turned back to 
the woman on the table. "Purple blood?" Scully asked, 
incredulous.

"Oh yes! We can't quite explain it, although we think it 
might be an unusual side effect of the infection, or maybe a 
reaction of her heightened immune system."

Scully snorted at the man's theory, then turned to look at 
Mulder. She could almost see the wheels turning as he ran through 
the possibilities. "Not now, Mulder," she whispered to him, her 
hand on his arm gently squeezing in warning. "We'll have plenty 
of time to figure it out later." She turned back to the 
researcher. "Are there any other abductees in this base?"

"No," he replied. "Just the seven children, and the three 
adults."

"Good. Now you...," Mulder said, a finger jabbing the man in 
his chest, "are going to help us take all of them downstairs. Is 
that clear?"

The man nodded silently.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Sickbay
USS Enterprise-D
Monday, April 12, 2371
0311 hours

Mulder came awake to the dimmed lights of a quiet Sickbay. 
Groggily, he lifted his head from the desk, looking over to see 
Crusher slumped just as awkwardly in her own chair. He winced at 
the crick she would have when she woke up. Slowly, he got up and 
walked over, giving her a nudge.

She awoke with a start, looking around in sleepy confusion. 
Her eyes finally settled on the tall figure standing next to her. 
"Agent Mulder?" she whispered, her drowsiness making her voice 
scratchy. "I fell asleep?"

"Why don't you go lie down, Beverly?" he said with a soft 
smile. "You're going to have a sore neck otherwise."

"I should be monitoring the...," Crusher immediately 
protested, albeit half-heartedly.

"Nothing's changed, Beverly," he interrupted her, shaking 
his head as he glanced at the readouts next to the desk. While he 
couldn't actually decipher any of them, he'd stared at them long 
enough before nodding off himself that he was sure of that.

"Mmm...," she murmured, rubbing her closed eyes. "Maybe just 
for a little while," she reluctantly agreed, running her fingers 
through her hair as she got up and headed for the small bed in 
the back of her office. She might be giving in to her body's need 
for rest, but she'd be damned if she was going to leave her 
patients sleeping on the medical biobeds while she rested in her 
own bed.

Mulder watched her departing form, and whispered almost 
inaudibly, "Sweet dreams, princess." He saw her disappear into 
her office, then walked over to the replicator. "Computer, 
coffee." It was a foregone conclusion that he wasn't going back 
to sleep anytime soon, tired though he was. He took the steaming 
cup that appeared and turned around, almost jumping in surprise 
at the soft chuckle.

He couldn't believe he'd been so tired that he'd missed the 
dark form sitting in the corner. She'd obviously not left either. 
He'd actually gotten used to her presence, the tingling feeling 
relegated to the back of his consciousness.

"Acting the night owl, Guinan?" he quipped gruffly as he 
made his way back to his chair. When she didn't reply, his eyes 
narrowed. "What?" he asked, sitting down.

The dark woman shrugged. "Oh, nothing...," she trailed off, 
glancing meaningfully towards Crusher's office and back to him, a 
hairless brow rising in silent question.

Mulder followed her gaze, then looked back at her. He took a 
deep sip of the hot liquid, then sighed. "You know, she used to 
call me Uncle Fox," he said almost wistfully. "Has it really been 
36 years?"

"Hmmm...," she replied, silently staring back at him.

"You think I'm being stupid, don't you?"

"I didn't say a word." She raised her hands in self-defense.

"Oh, come on, Guinan. You're an El-Aurian. I used to be in 
the head-shrinking business too, remember. I know the drill."

"The drill?" Guinan shook her head, as if puzzled at the 
reference.

"Yeah, you know, you listen, and say uh-huh every few 
seconds, and I spill my life story to you."

"Uh-huh," she supplied helpfully.

He snorted, shaking his head as he lifted the cup to his 
lips again.

"Okay, I'm sorry. You're right. I should've known better."

"Good, cause I like my head just as big as it is now."

They both chuckled tiredly at the joke.

"Wow, I must be out of it," Mulder said finally. "That 
actually sounded funny."

"Mulder, the jokes aside," she said softly, her expression 
sobering, "they *are* mortal. We aren't."

"And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges, eh, 
Guinan?" Mulder whispered back.

"It's what we are, Mulder," Guinan replied sadly.

"And you know what the ironic part of all this is?" Mulder 
chuckled almost bitterly, as if he hadn't even heard her. "I'm 
wishing I could understand what it is to be mortal, but at the 
same time, I'm praying with every fiber of my being that her 
immortality pulls her through this... this hell." There was no 
need for him to say who she was; his unconscious glance at the 
prone form of his wife lying on the biobed was enough.

She couldn't really come up with anything to say to that. 
After all, how often had she herself thought about it? How often 
had she found herself cursing the passage of time that 
inescapably stole away her mortal friends? She sometimes wondered 
at the logic of a universe that would create both types of 
beings. Were immortals even meant to have mortal relationships at 
all?

She thought back to her past acquaintances with other 
mortals, like Picard and Beverly, and how some of those 
relationships had been among the most rewarding of her life. She 
wouldn't willingly give those up for anything. But it didn't make 
it hurt any less. She sighed in understanding of Mulder's 
comments.

The two commiserated quietly in mutual sympathy for a few 
minutes before Guinan decided to break the silence, and change 
the topic while she was at it. It was starting to get a bit 
morbid for her tastes. "So, Uncle Fox, was it?"

Mulder looked up at her, smiling faintly. He wasn't unaware 
of what she was trying to do. But he decided to let it go, not 
particularly feeling up to drowning in his sorrows just yet.

"I thought you hated that name," Guinan said, remembering 
his words when he'd first introduced himself. "Call me Mulder," 
he'd said when she'd first met him.

"What can I say?" Mulder shrugged. "I seem to have a soft 
spot for little redheads."

Guinan simply shook her head in amusement.

"Fox and Dana Howard," Mulder added, remembering.

"A kept man, eh, Mulder," she ribbed him gently.

Mulder glared at her, although his eyes twinkled. "Well its 
better than what we decided on for our current incarnation." 
Seeing her questioning look, he elaborated, "Denise Kelly and 
Felix Leiter. I'm not sure what we were thinking at the time."

Scully's chosen pseudonym sounded normal, but his rang a 
bell as she recognized the reference. "How'd you come up with 
those anyway?" she asked, curious now.

"You know, that's actually an interesting story." He settled 
back in his chair as let his mind wander through the memories. 
"We were on one of the planets close to the Cardassian border. 
This was before the treaty was signed, back when Jellico was just 
beginning his negotiations with them. Even then, tensions were 
starting to run just a bit too high for our tastes. We hadn't 
been there long enough to get attached to the place, so we 
decided it was for the best just to leave."

Mulder paused to take a sip of the now lukewarm coffee. 
"We'd barely cleared the system when this enormous Cardassian 
Galor Class cruiser appeared out of nowhere and decided to use 
our shuttle for target practice." He shrugged. "Of course, Scully 
had different ideas."

Guinan grinned. Dana had never been one to take any crap 
from anyone. She could well imagine the fiery redhead's attitude 
upon being fired at. She nodded in understanding.

"So, naturally, she decided to do something about it. The 
next thing the Gul on the cruiser knew, he was talking to a 
member of the Cardassian Central Command."

"No," Guinan chuckled in disbelief.

"You'd better believe it," Mulder replied, chuckling 
himself. "She had the computer alter her outgoing vidimage, and 
voila!" He snapped his fingers. "Instant Cardassian Legate! The 
Gul just about peed in his pants. Imagine his shock at having 
fired upon a superior officer out enjoying a quiet shuttle 
ride." He could laugh now at the memory. "Scully tore him more 
new orifices than I could even count. Thank god for none too 
bright Guls. The shuttle wasn't exactly Federation issue, but 
anyone with even an ounce of smarts could tell it wasn't 
Cardassian either."

"So...?" Guinan prodded.

"So," Mulder continued, "while the idiot was busy making his 
profuse apologies and preparing his ship for a surprise 
inspection, we high-tailed it out of there."

Guinan pressed a palm against her mouth as she laughed. 
"Only you two...," she managed, shaking her head in mirth.

"Yeah well," Mulder grinned. "So anyway, I told her she was 
a regular Grace Kelly. You remember the actress right?"

Guinan nodded, recalling her addiction to the old 2D films 
back during her stay on Earth.

"And she said, 'I'm not Grace Kelly. I'm her talented 
younger sister, Denise Kelly.'" He waited for the significance of 
the name to hit her.

Guinan appeared puzzled for a second before she realized it. 
"Ah, of course," she nodded. "Dana Scully, Denise Kelly."

Mulder shrugged. "Cute, huh? So I told her, if she was going 
to do movie references, I was too. Hence, Felix Leiter."

"You always did like the Bond movies."

"His character was always so underappreciated," Mulder 
sighed.

"Like you I suppose," Guinan commented dryly.

Mulder shrugged his shoulders in silence, a grin tugging at 
his lips.

Guinan shook her head exasperatedly, then brought her 
fingers to her lips to stifle a yawn.

The gesture didn't go unnoticed. "Go to bed, Guinan."

"Mulder..."

"Go," he urged, waving his hand. "I'll be fine here."

She sighed, slowly getting to her feet. "Try to get some 
sleep yourself, Mulder," she told him softly, placing a hand on 
his shoulder as she walked up to him. They locked eyes for a 
moment, then she squeezed his shoulder in comfort before going 
out the Sickbay doors.

Behind her, the seated figure watched the doors slide shut, 
leaving him shrouded in the darkness. He leaned back in the 
chair, closing his eyes as he thought about his recent visitor, 
and how they'd first met. Anything to occupy his mind so he 
wouldn't have to think about the unconscious figure in the room 
next door.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Underwater Research Facility
East Pacific Rise, Pacific Ocean
Friday, December 11, 1998
3:41 PM

Anyway they looked at it, it would take at least two trips 
to get everyone down to the level where they'd entered the 
facility. With that in mind, Mulder suggested taking the children 
and one of the adults down first.

He carefully lifted two of the children, resting each one 
against one of his shoulders. Colton and the technician mirrored 
his action, leaving Scully and the researcher to carry the 
remaining child and Lynn respectively. Slowly, they made their 
way down the levels back to the submersible.

Again, they were careful not to run into any station 
personnel as they walked through the corridors and down the 
ladders. The ladder chutes were especially tricky carrying their 
precious cargo, forcing them to take it slowly and carefully.

According to the researcher, the base was currently at a 
lower level of activity than usual. Besides which, the lab 
housing the abductees was but one of five scattered about the 
base. Still, while they were lucky enough not to run into any 
enemies, the agents nevertheless h