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 heaved a breath of relief when
they finally made it down the last ladder. They walked past the
two bound security guards and into the corridor leading to the
room with the moon pool.
Coming to a halt next to the sub, Mulder gently laid the two
children on the ground. He turned to Colton, reaching over to
help him do the same. "You want to check out the sub?"
Colton nodded, quickly climbing up the small part of the sub
that was above the water. He pulled back on the hatch, and with a
glance toward the X-files agents, jumped in.
He climbed back out a few minutes later, jumping off the sub
to land beside the others.
"Well?" Mulder asked.
Colton shrugged. "It looks fine. All the systems check out.
Our boy here must've been doing a tune-up or something when we...
umm... crashed the party. Unfortunately, there's only enough room
for the children in there, and maybe three or four adults. But
even that will be a pretty tight fit."
"That's okay," Mulder replied. "You take Lynn and the others
in this one. Scully and I'll follow you in ours."
"Are you sure?" Colton asked. "You've never driven one of
these things before," he cautioned.
"Don't worry. I saw you bring it down here. Going back up
will be a piece of cake."
Colton grunted. "I sure hope so. With that baffle they've
got set up around here, you can't even call me for help."
"I know," Mulder sighed. He turned to look at Scully. "Well,
what say we get these people seated?" At her nod, he gathered up
the two he'd brought down, moving carefully up the side of the
sub.
Within a few minutes, they had all eight of them inside the
vessel. They placed them in the back to make room for the others
they had yet to bring down.
When they were done, they turned and started to head back.
They'd barely taken a step, however, when they realized
something. They looked at each other.
Finally Scully sighed. "I'll stay with them. You two hurry
back." She moved to seat herself on the piece of equipment behind
which they'd hidden their suits earlier. She saw Mulder look back
at her just before he disappeared down the corridor, and smiled
softly at him. "Be careful," she silently mouthed.
Mulder grinned in reply, winking as he followed the others
back to the upper lab. When they reached it, Mulder noticed the
computer on one of the desks inside. He paused, a thought slowly
forming as he considered his options. He turned to Colton.
"You think you and MacDuff will be able to get these two
down yourself? I want to look through that computer to see if I
can find anything useful."
Colton looked from Mulder to the two doors behind which the
last two people lay. Turning back to the agent, he nodded. "No
problem."
Motioning the whammied technician to follow him, he walked
up to the table Nick lay on. He hoisted him up onto his shoulder,
then walked over to the other room. When the other man had done
the same with the dark-skinned woman, he walked back out into the
main lab. He saw Mulder seated at the computer talking with the
researcher. "Good luck, Mulder. Get down to the sub as soon as
you're done."
"Thanks," Mulder replied. "Will do."
With that, Colton hurried out, anxious to get back to the
lower levels and get out of the facility.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Mulder stared in excitement as screen after screen of
information came up on the monitor. This was everything he could
have hoped for and more. It was all there for the taking.
He saw files detailing exact locations of the other bee
farms, with more accurate maps than the one he'd managed to steal
from the one they had raided earlier. There were also lists of
experiments that the consortium had performed or funded over the
years. Some of the entries went back more than a half century.
He sucked in a breath as he realized the possibilities. With
this kind of information, he and Scully could do considerable
damage to the consortium. No longer would they be the
invulnerable power they'd been thus far, not with this kind of
evidence against them. Finally, after all these years of
searching, he had at his fingertips tangible proof to get back at
the bastards who'd taken so much from him and Scully.
Mulder sighed, looking at the researcher at his side. The
man had proven quite helpful in navigating through the computer.
Now all that remained was to transfer the contents of the machine
to the disk that the man helpfully provided. That done, Mulder
was about to get up when he heard the voices.
Both men looked up, and saw the two men standing at the
doorway, their eyes locked on the agent and the researcher. For a
moment, neither pair moved, each trying to figure out what to do.
The newcomers recovered moments before Mulder did. Quickly taking
in the empty tables and the open doors farther back, they turned
and ran back out. Mulder was immediately on their tail when he
saw one of them hit a button on his way out.
Immediately, a series of whoops and alarms started ringing
as a siren sounded. Mulder looked up, trying to trace the source
of the noise as he cursed silently. He just knew his luck would
run out sometime. They hadn't yet run into many of the other base
personnel. It only followed that this was inevitable. But it
still didn't make him curse any less.
He'd barely gotten past the outer door when the bullet
streaked past him. The next one grazed him, and the one after
that embedded itself in his arm before he jumped back into the
safety of the room.
He looked behind him, about to tell the researcher to hide
when he noticed that the bullets had already claimed one victim.
The man lay on the ground, clutching his stomach as the dark red
fluid slowly leaked out. Mulder could already tell that the man
had no chance. From the amount of blood, it looked as if one of
the bullets had nicked a major blood vessel. He sighed, watching
helplessly as the life drained out of the man. Turning away from
the lifeless body, he settled down to what had essentially become
a waiting game.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
With a soft thud, Colton jumped off the ladder. He looked up
to see the tech's face peeking over the edge of the shaft above
him.
"Okay, pass them down to me," he told the man. "Slowly."
He held up his hands, grabbing onto the limp bodies as they
were handed down. He set down the woman, then hoisted Nick back
up. A moment's wait for the tech to do the same, then the two of
them started back on their way.
They were in the middle of a short corridor, about a level
or so above their final destination when suddenly, all hell
seemed to break loose.
The deafening siren sounded seemingly from every direction.
Colton's eyes widened. "Damn!" he muttered softly. He knew it had
been going too smoothly. And now the other shoe had finally
dropped. He heard the footsteps behind him pause, and turned to
check on the other man's progress.
Behind him, the tech stood still, a confused look on his
face.
"Come on," Colton prodded him, a note of urgency creeping
into his voice. The sooner they got the two abductees back to the
sub, the better he would feel.
The man took a hesitant step forward at the command.
"What's wrong with you?" Colton hissed impatiently. "We
really need to get going. C'mon."
Another step, and then the tech seemed to stumble. Cursing,
Colton lowered Nick, laying him against the wall before walking
over to the other man. He reached out to firmly grasp the man's
arm.
When the tech turned his head to meet his eyes, Colton knew
something was wrong. He had noticed the glazed look in the man's
eyes ever since Mulder's interrogation. At the time, he'd
wondered if Mulder had somehow drugged him. Now it looked as if
whatever spell the man had been under had finally worn off.
He let go of the arm, his hand going to his waist. His
fingers closed around the grip of his stolen weapon. But with his
head turned slightly away, he didn't notice the hardening of the
technician's features as he came out of his stupor. He also never
saw the fist before it crashed into the side of his face. With a
soft groan, Colton slid to the ground.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Mulder had managed to take out a couple of the security
guards as they attempted to sneak into the lab. Now he'd taken
their guns, and barricaded himself inside the lab. And until
something happened to change it, they were effectively at a
standoff. He couldn't move fast enough in the confined space
outside to take out more than a few of his opponents before they
managed to pump enough bullets in him to stop him. He was hardly
invulnerable, and beyond a certain limit, even his body would
shut down, succumbing to the many pieces of metal tearing into
him.
He was, however, starting to get a bit concerned at the
water that had started to spray from one of the pipes along the
walls. Apparently, one of the bullets had managed to crack it
along a seam. The agent glanced down at the guns in his hand.
They had obviously been designed to cause as little damage as
possible, keeping in mind the precariousness of the deep-sea
environment. He cringed as he thought of what would happen should
one of the bullets manage to breach the outer hull. He shook his
head, trying to erase the uncomfortable image.
Looking back up, he tilted his head to the side as he
concentrated on the sounds from outside the lab. He'd been
hearing sporadic conversations, voices and occasionally the
crackle of a radio. But it had been quiet for a few minutes now,
and Mulder was starting to get worried. He'd already placed the
disk into a watertight compartment inside his jumpsuit, and he
patted it now to reassure himself of its safety. He'd just made
his decision to make a run for it when he felt the deck shudder
under his feet.
He jumped in surprise, looking around as he tried to figure
out what he'd just felt. Moments later, another shudder almost
threw him to his feet as the floor lurched beneath him.
Suddenly, he heard a series of muffled explosions above him.
His head jerked back as he looked up at the ceiling, his eyes
darting nervously as his thoughts raced. The video images of the
exterior of the facility ran through his mind as he tried to
figure out what was above him. He knew he was somewhere a couple
of levels above the module where they'd initially entered the
base. From what he remembered, the module he was in would be one
of those that stood separate from the central cluster, where the
living quarters were, according to the researcher. Above him, he
remembered a few more modules, which he assumed contained the
other labs the researcher had mentioned.
He froze as he thought about the topmost modules. Suddenly,
Colton's words came back to him. His face drained of color as he
realized what the explosions had been. The escape modules! And
the only reason to launch them would be if the facility itself
were in imminent danger of a breach. Either one of the bullets
had indeed done the damage he'd been hoping against, or... or
they'd realized that the facility had been compromised and had
set off some kind of self-destruct mechanism to prevent the
agents' escape.
The next explosion caused the computer to tumble off the
desk. With a colorful array of sparks, the monitor screen winked
out. Mulder looked from the machine to the door. With his face
set, he threw open the door and made his way outside. As he'd
expected, the corridor outside was empty. Grimly, he made his way
back down.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Scully looked up from where she was sitting, seeing moving
shadows at the end of the corridor. "Mulder?" she called out,
then realized that she didn't feel his presence. "Colton, is that
you?" she repeated, standing up. Hearing nothing, she walked
forward a few steps, then glanced back at the sub.
She'd heard the sirens earlier, but had resisted the
temptation to leave the children alone to check it out. She still
didn't want to leave the sub unattended, but she was starting to
get a bad feeling about whoever was out there. Her hand slipped
to her waist, closing around the gun as she made her decision.
She silently pulled it out as she made her way down the corridor.
The door on the other end was open a few inches. She stood with
one hand against it, then took a breath as she pushed it open.
Her hand immediately moved to brace the weapon as she pointed it
into the room.
She heard a sound above her, and looked up just in time to
see a pair of legs disappearing up the ladder shaft. She cursed,
scanning the room from left to right before moving inside. She
noted the discarded cables where they had bound the security
guards. Coupled with the sirens from earlier, and considering
that neither Mulder nor Colton had returned yet, she felt a
faintly sick feeling well up within her stomach. Something had
definitely gone wrong.
She quickly climbed up the ladder, following the ones who'd
left moments before. And almost fell off when the entire station
shuddered around her. Her eyes widened as she sped up her pace.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
She found Colton lying in a pool of water in the middle of
the corridor. The remaining two abductees lay beside him,
seemingly unharmed. She looked around, but could see no sign of
either Mulder or the two consortium agents he'd recruited. She
frowned, trying to figure out where the water was coming from. It
looked as if a pipe had burst somewhere farther on, judging from
the continuous flow down the corridor. She splashed water as she
fell to her knees beside the unconscious agent, gently patting
his cheek.
"Colton, come on," she gently prodded. "It's time to wake
up. C'mon."
"A few more minutes," Colton mumbled finally. He tried to
snuggle back into his bed, but it had suddenly become hard, and
very wet. The increased shaking finally broke through his
drowsiness, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Concerned blue eyes stared back at him as he tried to get
up. He fell back with a cry of pain as his hands moved up to
clutch his head.
"Careful," Scully admonished, moving her hands under his
shoulders to support him. "You have a bruised cheek and a bump on
your head." She moved closer, opening first one eyelid, then the
other. She nodded in relief. "The good news is, you aren't
concussed, but that bump is probably not very comfortable."
"I don't need a medical degree to figure that out," Colton
muttered as he made his way to his feet. He moaned, swaying
precariously as he put out a hand to steady himself.
"Whoa," Scully cautioned him. "Not so fast."
"Oh, god," Colton groaned. "What hit me?"
"I don't know," Scully replied, looking around nervously.
"Where's Mulder?"
Colton winced as his last few minutes of memory returned.
"He's still up there in the lab. He said something about getting
more information out of the computer in there. That technician
was helping me get these two down when we heard the sirens." A
hand went up to lightly trace the bump near his hairline.
"Suddenly he went nuts and knocked me out." He winced as his
fingers hit tender flesh. "What's going on here, Scully? I
thought he was on our side." He moved, splashing water. "And
what's with all the water?"
Scully sighed. The sirens had probably disrupted Mulder's
implanted suggestions. Loud sounds had been known to do that. And
he'd obviously taken the opportunity to free the security guards
as well. She shook her head. Well, there was nothing they could
do about it now. "I guess he changed his mind," she shrugged. "As
for the water, I have no idea. Maybe a pipe burst or something.
That may be what the sirens were for. Are you okay to go on?" She
saw him nod. "Good, then help me lift up our mystery woman. We're
only one module up from the sub, so we shouldn't have too much of
a problem."
"Knock on wood," Colton muttered as he helped her, then
followed after her with Nick. They came to the ladder shaft, and
found water already pouring down it. Meanwhile, the structure
continued to shudder and shake around them. The water also made
the ladder rungs especially slippery, making it seem to take
almost an eternity to get the unconscious women down.
Finally, they were at the sub. Scully quickly hurried
inside, heaving a breath of relief to see the children as she'd
left them. She'd almost been afraid of what might have happened
in her absence. She jumped back out, standing next to the hatch
as Colton brought his friend up. Together, they moved him, then
the woman into the sub.
Colton had been right earlier. Once all the ten abductees
had been secured, there was barely enough room for him to sit
down himself. He jumped in, then looked up to see Scully standing
at the hatch, holding it ready to close.
"What about you?" he asked softly.
"We'll be alright," she assured him. "As soon as you leave,
we'll swim back to our sub and follow you."
"I still don't feel right leaving you two..."
"You just worry about getting them back safely," Scully cut
him off, nodding towards his passengers. "We'll be right behind
you. I promise." She saw Colton sigh as he sat down at the
controls. "Good luck, Colton," she said softly, then swung the
hatch shut and secured it.
A few minutes later, she watched it slowly sink. She looked
down, seeing its dark form move away from under her, the top of
the vessel clearing the underside of the module as Colton headed
out.
Another shudder made her look back to the corridor. "Where
are you, Mulder?" she whispered worriedly. She darted a glance at
the remaining suits, then started running towards the corridor.
She'd closed the door behind her when she and Colton had
come through it earlier. When she pulled it open now, she was
shocked at the amount of water that rushed out. It was almost up
to her waist now on the other side. She quickly pushed through
the water, pulling the door closed behind her. A sudden shudder,
combined with the creaking of metal above her gave her a moment's
pause. Resolutely, she slogged through, cold hands brushing aside
wet strands of hair as she made her way to the ladder. The water
pouring down the shaft made it difficult to climb, but a few
minutes later she found herself in the module directly above.
She was almost at the place where she'd found Colton when
she made out a form running towards her. The figure resolved into
Mulder's familiar features as it came closer. She was about to
smile when she saw his expression, one of fear and shock.
She was about to ask him what the matter was when she saw
the reason for it. Behind him, a wall of water rushed towards
them. Her eyes widened in fear as she turned and started running
back, Mulder at her heels.
They reached the ladder to the storage room, and literally
dropped down it. Behind them, they could hear the roar of the
water as it rushed at them. And above the sound of the water,
they could make out the groaning of the superstructure as it
shuddered under the incredible pressures at this depth.
By now the water level in the room had risen to Mulder's
neck, leaving Scully to tread water in order to remain afloat.
They made their way past floating debris and crates to the door,
and got it open. The stagnant water suddenly found an escape
outlet, and rushed out into the corridor in torrents, carrying
along with it two extremely cold and wet FBI agents. They slid
along the floor as the water shot out over and around them.
Mulder jumped to his feet, pushing his way back through the
rushing water to the door. Even with his enhanced strength, it
took considerable effort to get the door shut. He quickly locked
it, and seeing it start to bulge outward, he placed his back
against it to shore it up.
"Scully," he called out, "go and put on your suit." He saw
her hesitate. "NOW!" he shouted.
"What about you?" she shot back, yelling to be heard above
the roar of the water in the room beyond.
"I'll be fine, but this door is going to give any second
now," he shouted back. "Scully, go, please," he pleaded, his eyes
meeting hers, begging her to listen to him.
She looked at him for a long moment, then nodded in
resignation. Turning, she ran to the moon pool. Retrieving her
suit, she quickly started getting into it.
In the corridor, Mulder felt the deck move beneath him
again. But, unlike earlier, the movement wasn't confined to just
the floor under him. The entire module seemed to be tilting. His
eyes widened as he realized that the entire facility itself must
have come unanchored from the cliff face. If the room at the end
tilted enough, he wouldn't have to worry about holding this door
closed. The water would rush in through the pool itself.
He heard a whistling sound next to his ear, and moved his
head just in time as a bolt shot out of the door hinge, a stream
of pressurized water following it. A few seconds later, the rest
of the bolts followed. Now the only thing keeping the door closed
was his body. And even that didn't look like it was going to be
enough.
The tilt of the deck was making it impossible to keep his
balance on solid ground. And he couldn't use his flying powers to
keep himself steady, because then he had nothing solid to push
against. He felt the door move forward slightly, water escaping
around its sides before he managed to push it back, sealing the
hole again.
Another surge, and this time the door shot out completely,
throwing him forward. Behind him, the rest of the doorway gave
out as well, causing a wall of water to shoot out. Ahead, he
could already see the corridor walls buckling from torsional
stresses the facility had never been designed for. He jumped to
his feet and ran down the corridor, the water already at his
heels. Halfway down, with the water licking at his shoes, he
jumped, flying the rest of the way.
By the time he emerged into the room at the end, the module
had tilted enough that the water was fast overflowing the edges
of the pool. And behind him, the corridor had already broken in
half under the shear stresses, leaving it open to the outside
water. He caught a momentary glimpse of the yawning hole before
turning his attention forward again. He knew he had no time to
get into his suit. He saw Scully look up to see him flying
towards her, his eyes meeting hers in a moment of silence. She
hadn't yet gotten her helmet on when he grabbed her.
"No time," was all he had time to shout before he lifted her
and dove into the moon pool. Above him, the water completely
flooded the room, crushing the module walls.
They flew through the water, moving to the side, just as the
rest of the facility tore out of the cliff face. They hovered
there, the two of them watching in the dim light as what was left
of the structure slowly rolled down the incline. Once the debris
was past, he followed, watching helplessly as it crashed into
their only means of escape. The structure landed squarely on the
submersible, crushing it instantly before continuing its descent
down the side of the cliff.
Scully gasped as she felt the sudden chill of the water. As
they'd moved away from the vent powering the facility, the
temperature had rapidly dropped until it was near freezing. She
gripped Mulder's arm to get his attention. Seeing his eyes turn
from the sub to look into hers, she pointed up, barely able to
keep her teeth from chattering in the increasing cold. She saw
his eyes follow her gesture, then return to look at her. In the
darkness, she barely saw him nod.
As they rose, her body jerked, her lungs on fire as they
clamored for air that was simply unavailable. She had managed to
get a breath of air before being dragged underwater, but most of
that had been lost with her body's instinctual reaction to the
icy water. She quickly reached the limits of her lungs. A few
seconds later, she ran out of air, and with a few more panicked
jerks, she drowned.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
S.S. Meercat, Bridge
5:45 PM
"Hey Frohike, check this out," the blond man called out,
pushing up his glasses as he peered at the sonar display. On the
screen, multicolored blobs floated against a green background as
the sonar pulses swept the waters beneath them.
"What? You find something?" the short, balding man asked,
munching on a sandwich as he walked over.
"Yeah, something's coming out of the dead zone," the taller
man replied. "I'm not sure what it is yet."
Raising his voice, Frohike shouted, "Hey, Byers! Get over
here. Langly's found something." He turned back to the screen,
wiping off his fingers to trace the various points of color on
it. "What the hell is going on down there?"
"Whatever it is, it looks like one hell of a party," Langly
replied. "Hey Byers," he greeted the third Gunman, "take a look.
What do you make of this?"
"It looks like two submersibles," Byers said after staring
at the display for a few seconds. "Wait, this one here looks
bigger." He noticed several small dots moving towards it. "What
are all those little objects?" He looked up at his friends. "Did
all of them come out of the baffle?"
"The smaller one did," Langly replied. "Ditto on the small
dots. The other one just came in from outside sonar range, and
the small dots headed for it almost immediately."
"You think they know the guys are down there?" Frohike
asked, worried at the possibility.
"Guys, I don't think the sub from below is ours. I think..."
Langly quickly turned and checked his suspicions against a sheet
of paper beside the console. "Damn, that sub that's coming up
from inside the baffle definitely isn't ours. According to this
spec sheet, it's half again as big as ours."
"It's one of theirs?" Byers asked, puzzled. "Where're our
guys?"
Langly simply shrugged, not knowing what to tell him.
Frohike's sudden shout drew his attention back to the display.
"Oh god! They just fired!" Frohike shouted.
"What!? Who!?" Byers asked, trying to get a look at the
screen from around the other two. A small red dot streaked from
one point of color to the other, narrowly missing the smaller
vessel.
"The ones who came from outside. They're firing on the
smaller sub," Frohike replied.
"I thought that wasn't our guys. Are they firing on their
own people?"
Langly frowned at the display in confusion. His face cleared
as a thought occurred to him. "Unless... it's our guys in that
sub. We knew they couldn't fit everyone in our sub. Maybe they...
I don't know... borrowed a bigger one."
"Oh shit," Frohike exclaimed. "And they must have figured it
out too. Oh man, what are we going to do? Can we talk to them
yet?"
"No, they're still too deep. Radio will never reach that far
down," Byers replied, shaking his head.
"Guys... umm... I think we have bigger worries than that,"
Langly replied, tapping his friend's shoulders to get their
attention. The other two followed his gaze, their jaws dropping
in surprise at the sight. Outside the bridge windows, the hull of
a Ticonderoga class battle cruiser loomed above them, standing
close enough that the top of the hull was outside their field of
vision.
It was so quiet in the small bridge, the sudden crackle of
the radio almost caused their hearts to lurch. Byers placed a
hand over his speeding heart while Langly clicked on the unit.
"This is the U.S.S Eagle hailing the vessel off our port
bow. Please respond. We repeat, this is the U.S.S. Eagle..."
"This is the S.S. Meercat," Langly replied, looking to his
friends for advice on what to say. They simply shrugged, putting
the ball back in his court. "Can we help you?" he asked.
"This is Commander Paul Riker. Please state your purpose for
being in these waters."
The Gunmen looked at each other nervously. "These are
international waters, Eagle," Langly finally replied. "Our
business is none of your concern."
"Actually," the voice replied, "we're authorized to inspect
any vessel we suspect of harboring ill will toward the
sovereignty of the United States. We repeat, please state your
reason for being in these waters."
"Are they allowed to do that?" Frohike hissed.
"I don't know," Byers replied. "I'm no expert on naval law."
"Well, what do you want me to tell them?" Langly asked, his
eyes falling on the sonar screen again. Another torpedo narrowly
missed the sub as it rapidly ascended to their position. "They
must be seeing this on their screens too. I think they're
wondering what's going on down there as much as we are."
"But which side are they on?" Frohike wondered. "They're the
military, and we all know what that means."
"Not all of them work for Them, you know," Byers countered.
"So? You think we should ask them for help?" He turned to
Langly. "Are the subs close enough for radio contact yet?"
"No," Langly shook his head. "Not for a little while yet."
"S.S. Meercat, prepare to be boarded."
"Oh, man," Langly moaned. "What are we going to do?"
Meanwhile, Byers had been wondering why the name of the
cruiser seemed so familiar. When it hit him, he couldn't help the
smile that grew on his face.
"What are you smiling about, you narc? They're gonna board
us," Frohike muttered.
"Give me the mike, Langly." Seeing the blond man hesitate,
he prodded, "Come on. I have an idea." Taking the mike from the
reluctant Gunman, he thumbed the transmit switch. "This is the
S.S. Meercat. Could I speak to your captain?"
"Now, why would you want to do that?" came the reply.
"Please," Byers said. "It's important."
"I don't think so, Meercat. Prepare to be boarded."
"Wait," Byers shouted. "Tell your captain his sister's in
the sub that's being fired on."
There was a moment of utter silence as his friends stared at
him, wondering if he'd gone off the deep end. Slowly, their
expressions cleared as they caught on to Byers' idea.
"Please repeat that, Meercat. Did you say the captain's
sister is on..."
"This is Captain William Scully," a new voice interrupted.
"Who am I talking to? How do you know my sister?"
"Captain, my name is John Byers. I'm a friend of Agent
Scully's."
"Oh? And why would you say she's down there in that sub? And
why is it being fired upon?"
"Um, Captain? Do you remember asking her to look into that
sub about a week ago? The one carrying the coffin shaped object?"
There was a pause as the person on the other end considered
the question. "I'm listening," came the noncommittal reply.
"Well, it turns out that tied into a case she was working
on. You mentioned in your message a sonar screen that disrupted
your scans. There's an underwater base hidden behind the screen.
Agent Scully went down there to find out what's going on."
"And why are they firing on that sub?" he repeated.
Byers looked at Frohike and Langly, trying to decide how
much to reveal. They'd been given a reprieve, but he didn't want
to reveal more than was necessary to a military person, no matter
who his sister was.
Unfortunately, he could tell that the voice on the other end
was starting to sound skeptical. He sighed. "Because she might
have found something down there that her enemies don't want her
to find."
"And that would be...?"
"I'm not at liberty to say, Captain. Now unless you intend
to help, in a few minutes it really won't matter anymore. The sub
she's on doesn't look like it's going to dodge too many more of
those torpedoes."
The voice on the radio paused again. The Gunmen stared at
each other, wondering what was going through Bill Scully's mind.
Langly glanced back at the sonar to check on the sub's
ascent progress. When he saw the bright dot streak from their
position, headed directly for the bigger sub, he almost yelled in
surprise.
"Did what I think happened just happen?" Byers asked
quietly.
"The Eagle's firing on the sub," Frohike shouted. "Yesss!!!"
he raised his hand to give Langly a high five.
Byers watched the sub start to move away, and silently
heaved a breath of relief. "Thanks for the assistance, Eagle."
"You'd better be right about this, Meercat," came the terse
reply. "Please keep this channel open when you contact the sub."
The threat should they do otherwise was almost implicit in the
order.
"Will do, Eagle," Byers answered back.
"Byers," Frohike whispered. "The sub should be in radio
range in another five minutes."
Byers nodded in acknowledgement.
"This is Colton calling the Meercat. Come in, Meercat," the
radio came to life almost on cue. "I repeat, this is Tom Colton."
"This is Byers, Agent Colton. Are you all right?"
"Yeah," came the weary reply. "I'm fine. Prepare the
decompression chamber. We should surface in another 15 minutes."
"Roger that," Byers replied.
"And who sent that rocket after that blasted sub that was
firing on us?"
"Umm... we have a little company up here."
"This is the captain of the U.S.S. Eagle," the new voice
broke in on the conversation. "Is Dana Scully on board?"
"Uh, no, she's not," Colton replied, puzzled why a naval
captain would be interested in them. If they hadn't just saved
him and his passengers, he would be inclined to distrust them
based on what Mulder and Scully had told him about the military's
collusion with the consortium.
"I was told she would be," the voice said, a threatening
note creeping into it. "What's going on here, Meercat?"
"It's okay, Colton," Byers hastened to assure him. "This is
Captain William Scully, Agent Scully's brother."
"Oh," Colton replied, considering the new information.
"Well, we didn't have enough space in here. She should be right
behind me, coming up in our sub any minute now. I can't really
tell with the limited sonar I have in here."
"Nothing's showing up on our screens, Meercat," Scully said
testily. "I'm starting to get a bit impatient."
"Damn, I knew I shouldn't have left them. I knew something
would happen. Meercat, are you sure you're not picking up
anything?" Colton asked as he maneuvered his sub to dock within
the moon pool on the Gunmen's boat. He heard movement outside as
Frohike and Langly went about securing the sub and attaching the
short crawlway to the nearby decompression chamber.
"I'm sorry, Agent Colton," Byers said softly. "There's
nothing down there."
"Damn!" Colton cursed. "Let me get these people off, then
I'm going back down. Colton out." He stood up to release the
hatch, then started unloading the passengers one after the other.
He carried each one to the small chamber, laying them side by
side on the floor. Once he had all the children and the three
adults in the chamber, he returned to the sub. "Okay, guys,
prepare for..."
"Hang on, I'm getting something...," Byers interrupted.
"We're picking it up as well, Meercat. Something's coming
up."
"It looks too small to be the sub, though. Maybe it's just a
fish," Byers ventured.
"Fish don't rise that fast, or travel straight up. Hang on,
it's coming up off your starboard bow. It should reach the
surface in a couple of minutes."
Byers hurried out to the deck, staring at the water. On the
neighboring cruiser, he could make out several forms leaning over
the railing, searching the water themselves.
"Over there," he heard someone from the Eagle shout. And
just a few feet away from the Meercat, a dark form rose to the
surface.
With a gasp, Mulder broke the surface, almost flying out of
the water. He fell back in with a splash, his arms tight around a
limp form that Byers could barely make out as Agent Scully. Her
face had a pale bluish complexion that caused his breath to
hitch. He quickly tossed over a life ring, wondering if they had
come up all the way from one and a half miles down. How had they
even survived?
He waited for Mulder to weakly place his arm through the
ring, then started pulling. He was dimly aware of Frohike and
Langly come up beside him, helping him pull the agents onto the
deck.
On closer inspection, he could see streaks of blood on their
faces, where capillaries close to the skin had burst from the
rapid decompression. And even more troubling was the fact that
Scully wasn't breathing. Her skin felt clammy and ice-cold to the
touch.
"You've killed her, you son of a bitch," a shout came from
beside him. He looked up to see a tall red-haired man grasp
Mulder's jumpsuit by its collar, pulling him up to glare into his
face.
Mulder weakly grasped the offending hands. "Nice to see you
too, Bill," he softly whispered, then dissolved into a series of
coughs. "Decompr...," he managed to add before blacking out, his
head hanging back limply from the other man's grip.
"Umm... Captain Scully," Byers ventured, not too sure about
earning the tall man's ire. "John Byers," he introduced himself.
"Can you help me get these two to the decompression chamber?"
Bill Scully reluctantly nodded, lifting his sister and
hurriedly following the Gunmen. They had Mulder in a fireman's
carry as they ran down to the sub.
Colton had already made room inside the chamber and within
moments, the other two agents were placed inside. Colton
immediately went to work on Scully, removing her suit to
administer CPR. From outside, Captain Scully and the Gunmen
watched helplessly, unable to get inside to do anything.
They held their breaths as Colton continuously alternated
between chest compressions and mouth to mouth. The bloody streaks
on Scully's face dried and cracked as he worked.
Next to Colton, they watched as Mulder suddenly gasped, his
eyes fluttering open to take in his new surroundings. "What...,"
they heard him mutter before he caught sight of Colton and
Scully.
Forcing joints stiff from the rapid pressure changes, Mulder
worked pained muscles to crawl over to his partner. He took over
the mouth to mouth, whispering softly to her as he worked.
"C'mon, Scully. I know you liked the Abyss, but this is getting a
bit ridiculous," he muttered, remembering a similar scene in the
movie. Beside him, Colton quietly continued the compressions.
Another five of those, followed by a breath. "Wake up,
Scully. You still have to chew me out for dragging you out here,
remember?" he said.
They continued for a few more minutes before Colton gave up.
He sat back on his knees, his head hanging in defeat. He looked
up at the small window set into the door, his eyes meeting the
hopeful faces outside. Sadly, he shook his head. It had been too
long, he knew. He didn't even want to think about how far they
must have come. Had they really just swum up all the way from the
facility? His mind refused to even consider the possibility.
Outside, the four men stepped back, looking at each other in
disbelief. It couldn't be, could it? None of them wanted to
believe it. Bill turned, a cry of anguish escaping his lips as he
slumped against the door of the chamber. He stared off into the
distance, his mind reeling as the reality of the situation
finally hit him. He'd lost another sister. First Missy, and now
Dana. He closed his eyes to staunch the tears that threatened to
fall.
Colton turned to see Mulder still breathing for the
obviously dead woman. He reached out, placing a hand on the other
man's arm. "Mulder...," he said softly.
"Damn it, Colton. She's not dead," he hissed, brushing the
man's arm off. He took over Colton's position as well,
alternating the compressions with the breathing. When she
continued to be unresponsive, he increased the force of the
compressions until he was almost pounding on her chest. "Come on,
Scully. Wake up, dammit! Please!" he shouted, almost begging her
to respond.
When he felt the faint tingling, he stopped so abruptly that
he almost fell over. He moved up, patting her cheek. "Scully?" he
whispered. "That's it, Scully. You can do it. Come on, wake up,"
he encouraged her.
Colton watched, wide-eyed, almost certain that Mulder had
lost it. When he saw the prone woman gasp, though, he felt like
he was sharing Mulder's delusions as well. He saw her come to,
heaving in a gasping breath as her eyes opened. He quickly helped
Mulder turn her to the side, letting her get rid of the water in
her system in a series of coughs.
Outside, the four men watched, shocked, as Scully literally
seemed to come back to life. Bill Scully weakly sank to his
knees, muttering a fervent, "Thank god!"
She slowly regained consciousness, her eyes catching the
concerned hazel orbs looking back at her. "Hey, G'man," she
whispered hoarsely, looking at Mulder. "Looks like we made it,
huh?"
"You got that right, G'woman. I swear, after this we're
going on a long vacation," he whispered back, his hand clutching
hers, bringing it up to gently kiss the back of her hand.
Colton looked at the two of them, almost oblivious to
anything else, and wondered if the rumors going around the Bureau
had any truth to them after all.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sickbay
USS Enterprise-D
Monday, April 12, 2371
0743 hours
"How is she?"
Crusher glanced up from her examination of the unconscious
woman to see the figure leaning against the doorway. She noticed
the rings around his eyes, attesting to his lack of rest.
"Did you get any sleep at all last night?"
Mulder shrugged. "A couple of hours, I guess. I'll be fine."
He nodded towards his wife. "What about her?"
Crusher sighed, turning back to her tricorder. "There's been
no change as far as I can tell. All my readings tell me she's
dead. But you see this...," she said, pointing to one of the
display screens on the wall next to her. She pressed a couple of
buttons, shifting the image. "These spikes here indicate very low
level neural activity. It's not unusual to find similar residual
activity in deceased patients."
"But...," Mulder prodded, knowing there was something more.
"But, it only occurs in recently deceased patients. This
shows activity all night long. I don't know exactly what it
means, except that there's still something going on in her body.
Not enough to qualify her as being alive," she said, "but I'm not
sure I'd classify her as completely dead either."
Mulder silently nodded, thinking over the information. Not a
ringing endorsement about Scully's recovery, but it was
something, he supposed. He moved to her side, reaching for a limp
hand, gently caressing it. He looked up at Crusher. "Thank you,
Beverly, for everything," he said softly.
Crusher nodded in mute understanding. "It'll work out, Agent
Mulder."
He smiled. "I could say the same to you," he replied softly,
not hearing her suddenly catch her breath at his words. He
remembered the looks she and Picard had shared the day before.
There was something there, he'd realized, but couldn't quite tell
how deep the feelings ran. "Beverly, about the captain...," he
began.
"If it's all the same to you," Crusher interrupted, her
voice icy. She snapped the tricorder shut as she moved past him.
"I'd rather not talk about it."
Mulder sighed, following her into the outer office. He could
sense the fear and anger just beneath her words. She didn't show
it, but he could tell she was scared. And it was as if a
lightbulb had gone off in his head. "How often have you had to do
this, Beverly?" he asked softly.
"Excuse me?" Crusher snapped, her eyes narrowing. She
desperately wanted him to drop the subject. She was having a hard
enough time trying not to think about the latest addition to the
stasis chambers without Mulder trying to remind her about it.
"How often have you had to stand by his bedside while he was
injured or ill?" he asked her.
"You don't underst..."
"It's scary, isn't it?" It wasn't a question. He saw her
eyes meet his, a hint of tears shining as she looked at him
wordlessly. "I know I've stood by Scully's bedside more times
than I'd like before our 'condition' manifested itself, waiting
for her to recover. And lord only knows how often she's done the
same for me." His voice dropped. "You see, I do understand."
The harsh look softened, almost as if a wall had crumbled.
She sank into her chair, her fingers clutching the tricorder in a
death grip. Closing her eyes, she softly replied, "Except in my
case, I can't do anything about it."
"Can't you? Are you willing to live your life like this just
to be safe? A friend of mine once said that it's better to have
loved and lost, than to have never loved at all."
"I don't think..."
"Have you?" he asked. "Really thought about it, I mean."
She simply looked at him. What could she say to that? Yes,
she'd thought about it? A day didn't go by that she didn't. But,
after Jack...
"He's not Jack Crusher," Mulder said quietly, almost as if
he could read her mind. When her eyes widened in shock at his
guess, he smiled sadly. "Scully and I, we try to keep track of
some of her descendants," he said by way of explanation. "Well,
the favorite ones anyway," he amended after a moment's thought.
"I wish you hadn't cut yourself off from us," Crusher
whispered, wondering how their presence in her life might have
affected her.
"You don't know how often we considered getting involved in
your life. Or the lives of some of your more distant cousins. But
we did that before..." He trailed off, turning inward as a memory
flashed across his face.
"Something happened?" Crusher realized.
Mulder swallowed, nodding faintly. "Our work... put them in
danger. We tried to protect them, we tried to hide them, but..."
He shut his eyes at the painful memory. "After that, we swore..."
He shook his head.
"How lonely you must get...," Crusher whispered, unable to
imagine not letting anyone get close. Sure they had each other,
but no close friends? She then remembered her own situation, one
eerily similar, but in reverse, and shook her head. "We really
are family, aren't we?" she said, the both of them chuckling at
the irony.
When the Sickbay doors swished open, he kept his eyes locked
on Crusher's. "We don't have a choice, Beverly. But you do," he
said softly. "Think about what I said."
Crusher simply nodded in silence, turning to greet their
visitor.
"Guinan," Mulder nodded at her.
"How is she?" the woman asked, echoing Mulder's question
from earlier.
"About the same," Crusher replied tiredly. "We won't know
anything more until her condition changes. I really hope
something happens soon. I don't know how much longer I can keep
this up." She placed the palms of her hands against bloodshot
eyes, taking the opportunity to close them for a few moments.
Both immortals could clearly see the exhaustion in her
features. She might have gotten more rest than Mulder the night
before. But the days of caring for the large number of patients,
the pressure of needing to find a cure before any more died while
she watched helplessly, were starting to take their toll. No
mortal, or immortal for that matter, could be expected to last
long under such conditions. It was a testament to Crusher's
strength and determination that she hadn't broken down yet.
"Beverly..." Guinan said. "Can you do anything right now?"
"Right now? Right now, I can do nothing but wait," Crusher
replied bitterly, feeling the frustration at having her hands
tied.
"In that case, why don't you get some more rest," Guinan
suggested softly. "Let the problem work on itself for a while."
"I wish I could, Guinan," Crusher said, considering the idea
before shaking her head. "But I can't. My place is here."
The doctor's mood was obviously infectious. Guinan could see
a similar tired look on Mulder's face, the two of them seated
across from each other with identical slumps to their shoulders.
Thoughts raced across her head as she searched for a solution.
On a hunch, she decided to try something. "I guess it was a
stroke of good luck that she wasn't already immune like you and
me, huh?" she asked Mulder.
"Not luck."
If it hadn't been so quiet in Sickbay, the soft reply would
probably not have been heard at all.
"What was that?" Guinan asked, happy at even the small
response.
"I said, it wasn't luck." Mulder looked up, grateful at the
opportunity to think about something else for a bit. "It was her
decision. She was never actually ever directly exposed to the
virus, like I was. The one time she was, on Arvada, there were so
few supplies to go around, she chose to remain unvaccinated so we
would have that one extra dose for someone else. That she escaped
contracting the virus... now that was luck, I suppose."
"I remember the day it started," Crusher said, her thoughts
turning inward as she tried to recall the days following the
onset of the Arvada disaster. "It was my birthday," she said,
"and it was one of my worst. Mother was one of the first ones to
be infected."
"I remember you kept squirming in my hands until you
wriggled free," Mulder recalled. "You saw the oil before any of
us could stop you. You should've never had to see that," he said
shaking his head.
"When I saw my mother collapse, I knew something was
horribly wrong. And I just had to see..." Crusher said, painful
memories floating to the surface.
Guinan took one look at their features, and wondered if
she'd simply replaced one pain for another. Her gaze traveled
down to see Mulder's hand slide across to gently squeeze
Crusher's, and smiled in relief. Sharing the pain, on the other
hand, did wonders to lessen one's own grief. She found a chair
and settled herself into it. "You know, you never did say why you
and Dana wound up on Arvada in the first place."
"It was pretty similar to our current situation, I guess."
Mulder shrugged. "Something was going to happen on Arvada, we
knew that much from our contacts within Starfleet. So we decided
to check it out. Lucky for us, we had... family there." He smiled
at Crusher at his last words.
Crusher returned the smile, but she was still disconcerted
to hear of Starfleet, an institution she trusted, having anything
to do with such bioengineered warfare. The very thought sickened
the doctor in her.
"How is Starfleet involved in all this?" Guinan asked,
curious herself.
"Well, you see that's the thing." He sighed, remembering the
long years spent working against those who worked in the shadows.
"They aren't really Starfleet in the strict sense. These people
have existed in one form or the other since long before I was
even born. They developed the original virus, and its cure. They
were also partly responsible for the genetic supermen who
precipitated the Eugenics Wars."
He paused, looking from one woman to the other. "With the
end of the post-atomic horror, they found that they might not be
able to survive in the new government that was being formed. So
when the founders of the Federation were charting the
Constitution, they wrote themselves in to protect themselves."
"But how?" Crusher asked, puzzled.
"How well do you know your Federation history? Remember how
extrajudicial responsibilities are delegated according to Article
VII?"
Crusher frowned, trying to recall history classes she'd
taken at the Academy, and long since relegated to the dim
recesses of her memory. "The Article on the Executive Powers of
the Federation? Wasn't there something in Section 27 somewhere
about discretionary subcommittees adjunct to the Federation
Council?"
"Pretty good," Mulder nodded, impressed. "But it was
actually Section 31," he corrected her. "It covers subcommittees
like Starfleet Intelligence, several of the lesser known response
teams for Federation covert operations, and... it provides a
loophole for one particular group to carry out activities without
any oversight committee to answer to."
"That's impossible," Crusher scoffed. "Every part of the
bureaucracy has some sort of oversight. It's one of the bedrock
principles that the Federation was founded on. No part of the
government has that kind of autonomy."
"Except these people." Mulder shook his head. "Ever hear of
the Tal Shiar? Or the Obsidian Order?"
The ultra-secret elite intelligence agencies of the Romulan
Empire and the Cardassians? Who in Starfleet hadn't heard of
them? There wasn't even any proof that they really existed, just
rumors. And had it not been for Deanna's run-in with the Romulan
agency a couple of years earlier, Crusher would probably still be
thinking of them as simply that... rumors.
When the two women nodded dumbly, Mulder added, "Is it so
hard to believe that the Federation has something similar?"
"I don't believe it...," Crusher whispered, shocked at the
revelation. Her brows furrowed in thought. "But if they now work
for the Federation, why would they be doing this? They're using
these biological agents against Federation citizens."
Mulder shrugged. "Both the Arvada disaster and this one were
tests, we think."
"Dana mentioned that," Crusher informed him. "But we aren't
at war with any silicon based lifeforms. And what about Arvada?"
"We don't need to be at war," Mulder explained. "They
believe in being prepared for anything. This is simply another
weapon in their arsenal. As for Arvada, I think that's when this
virus came into their possession again."
"Again?" Guinan asked, puzzled.
Mulder nodded. "After the post-atomic horror, their
influence was greatly weakened. They almost disappeared, and most
of their technology and weapons were lost or destroyed. I imagine
they rediscovered the virus somehow, and wanted to test its
viability. Arvada was simply... convenient."
"So many people died...," Crusher breathed, aghast. "Do you
have any proof?" she asked Mulder.
"If we did, do you think this would have happened?" Mulder
asked sadly, gesturing towards the biobed in the other room. "We
can't even find out who these people are. We knew about
Belisarius only because by chance we stumbled onto a transmission
they made. And even then we didn't know exactly what was about to
happen."
"And so...?" Crusher asked, her anger rising. "They just go
free? To do as they please, without having to answer to anybody?"
Mulder silently shrugged. What could he say to that? The
answer was obvious. He saw Crusher's anger simply deflate when
she realized it. "Doesn't mean we're going to stop trying
though."
The three lapsed into silence for a few moments. Finally
Crusher sighed. "Thank you, Agent Mulder. That means a lot. Once
Jean-Luc finds out about this, I have no doubt he'll do
everything in his power to..." She trailed off when she saw
Mulder shake his head.
"You don't understand, Beverly. He won't find anything. He's
tried before..."
"What do you mean? You can't believe he knew anything about
this and did nothing!" Crusher snapped, incredulous. She couldn't
believe Jean-Luc would keep quiet if he did know something.
"About the group? I have no doubt he suspects something. You
remember the conspiracy that your friend Keel stumbled on? It
cost him his life, Beverly, and the lives of everyone on board
his ship."
"Walker..." Crusher's eyes closed in pain, remembering the
memorial service where she'd had to say goodbye to a close
childhood friend. "This group... they were responsible for that
too?" How ironic, she mused, that he and his sisters had survived
the Arvada disaster with her, only for him to fall prey to
another of this group's machinations.
Mulder nodded. "They were looking for a means to control the
upper echelons of Starfleet. The aliens were the perfect
solution. Just intelligent enough to make everyone think they
were an independent threat, but ultimately under the control of
the group. I think Picard suspected that the aliens infiltrating
Starfleet wasn't an isolated incident. I know for a fact that he
tried to follow up on it. But there simply wasn't anything for
him *to* find; they're simply too good to leave any traces that
could lead back to them. He finally just... gave up."
"I don't know what to say...," Crusher breathed. "At least
before, I didn't know. But to know and not be able to do
anything..."
"I know," Mulder sighed in sympathy. "I've been there."
"I still have nightmares about Arvada," Crusher said softly.
"Not too often, but occasionally, in my dreams, I'll see all
those we couldn't save. To think it was on the whim of some
sentient being..."
Guinan simply sat there in shock at what she'd been told.
She had initially broached the topic as a means of getting their
minds off the pain of the current situation. And instead, she and
Beverly had wound up learning things she couldn't help wishing
she hadn't. That there were beings out there who could even
consider doing something like this... she shook her head, unable
to imagine anyone so heartless.
"I remember your grandmother and Scully scouring the colony
for resources to replicate the vaccine we had. But the colonists
just depended so little on technology, they couldn't make the
vaccine in quantity fast enough. If it hadn't been for your
grandmother's knowledge of the local flora, we wouldn't have been
able to synthesize a natural substitute for the compound. And
even then, there were so many we just couldn't get to in time."
Mulder shook his head at the painful memory.
Crusher blinked, trying to remember herself. She'd been so
young at the time, the memories were more of a child's emotion
than clear pictures. She remembered being scared at the
situation, lost without her mother or grandmother to comfort her.
She'd drawn what little reassurance her uncle had to offer, but
it had still been no substitute for her immediate family. She
smiled as a memory surfaced. "Didn't you..." She frowned, trying
to remember. "We played kadis-kot together, didn't we?"
Mulder nodded, sharing the smile. "I had to keep you busy
somehow. You were simply too inquisitive for your own good.
Scully and Felisa locked themselves away to try and make more of
the vaccine. With the meager resources they had available, the
process took days. You had already been inoculated, and you and I
were left to watch and wait. You were so frustrated at not being
able to do anything. I understood, but I just couldn't figure out
what to do about it." He chuckled. "I would take my eyes off you
for a second, and you'd dash off, trying to find your mother and
your nana." He shook his head.
"But you managed," Crusher said softly. "I guess I was a
handful, huh?" she smirked, feeling better at reliving some of
the happier moments.
"I'll say."
"Oh my god!" Crusher exclaimed in wonder as another memory
revealed itself. The heartache of their previous discussion
lessened every minute as she concentrated on the more pleasant
parts of her childhood on Arvada. "You were the Magician, weren't
you?"
"Guilty," Mulder replied, chagrined that she'd remembered
that.
"Magician?" Guinan asked, puzzled at the reference. Her face
stretched into a smile as the conversation slowly took a turn for
the better.
"Oh yeah," Crusher enthused, turning to look at the dark
woman. "He was the greatest Magician in all the kingdom. He could
change his shape, and breathe fire, and fly and everything. One
moment he was an ordinary human being..."
"Hey," Mulder interrupted. "I was hardly ordinary," he said
as if hurt. But his twinkling eyes gave him away.
"Sorry, an extraordinary human being," Crusher amended with
a smile. "And the next, he was a fire-breathing dragon, or a
fearsome ogre, or a wizard who could do all sorts of neat magic.
And I was the princess, of course."
"Of course," Guinan concurred, going along with the story.
"And I could always get him to return to his normal shape by
calling out his name. Uncle Fox..."
"I didn't think you still remembered that," Mulder said
softly.
Crusher chuckled. "Are you kidding? Those were some of my
most favorite stories." She paused. "Come to think of it,
Wesley's too, for so many years. He'd pester me for an original
Uncle Fox bedtime story every night before nodding off."
"What can I say? My legacy lives on," Mulder retorted dryly.
But his voice betrayed just that little hint of pride.
Crusher was about to reply when the sudden beeping from the
adjoining room caught their attention. Crusher's eyes locked with
Mulder's as the significance of the sound hit them
simultaneously. As one, they rose and hurried into the other
room.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Absolute darkness!
She looked around, trying to find any means of escape, any
path that might lead somewhere... else. Anywhere other than this
emptiness, this nothingness.
But she didn't even know if she was simply blind, or if
there really was nothing there. She looked down, but couldn't
make out her hands in front of her face. She couldn't even feel
her face when she commanded her hands to reach up and touch it.
Where was she? What was this place? She didn't know, she
realized, and the thought panicked her. She didn't even know if
she'd been here the entire time or if anything other than this
place even existed.
She thought she remembered images, sounds, smells from
another... life? another time? She didn't know. She shook her
head, or at least she thought she did. She couldn't even be sure
of that.
Around her, the cloying darkness swirled, caressing her. She
flinched every time it came close. She couldn't quite explain how
it could come closer if there was nothing other than... it... in
this place. But it did. It came to her, enticing in its allure,
begging her time and again to cease resisting and give in.
She refused, trying to hold on to the last memory she was
sure of... or at least she thought she was sure of. Someone... a
man, she thought... smiling at her... tall, with a gentle twinkle
in his hazel eyes. He reached for her; she could almost see the
hand extending in her direction, at least in her mind. And she so
desperately wanted to reach out and grab it, to pull herself
towards him.
With him was safety, she knew. With him, she was protected.
With him, she was loved. The knowledge wasn't simply something
she knew, or thought was true. It was woven into her very self,
every fiber of what was left of her being averring it to be true.
The darkness would not win, she was sure of that.
After all, she had promised herself that.
She had promised *him* that.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"What's happening?" Mulder nearly shouted as Crusher rushed
about the room, his voice suddenly loud as the alarms turned off.
Crusher ignored him as she stopped in front of one of the
diagnostic panels, the tricorder in her hand beeping madly as she
ran the sensing device above Scully's head. She kept glancing
from the instrument in her hand to the readouts on several of the
wall and bed mounted displays.
Mulder saw information stream across the wall display, but
couldn't make out its significance. He turned back to fix a
pleading glance at the doctor, but she simply continued her
actions. Behind him, Guinan stepped into the room, placing a
gentle hand on his shoulders.
"Let her work, Mulder," she told him softly.
Mulder's shoulders dropped in defeat as he realized she was
right. If he couldn't help, he'd only be in the way. Nodding, he
waited quietly.
A few minutes later, she sighed, snapping the tricorder shut
as she looked up at him. She met the pained hazel eyes, and saw
the need in them. Not simply a need to know what had transpired,
she realized, but also the need to be reassured.
She shook her head. "Nothing's wrong with her. She's doing
almost exactly as she was when I last checked on her."
"But the alarms..."
"I said almost exactly. You remember the neural activity I
was pointing out earlier?" When she saw him nod in recognition,
she went on, "Well, it spiked. Again. Only this time, it exceeded
a threshold limit before dying back down."
"And that activated the alarm?"
Crusher nodded. "Activity like this just doesn't spike that
high. At least not from such low levels, under normal
circumstances. For it to get that far up the scale, it would mean
she'd come alive for a nanosecond. That tells me her body's
definitely fighting it. But it dropped back down almost
immediately, so..." She trailed off, uncertain how to proceed.
"So...," Mulder prodded
"So...," she repeated, then paused again. "I just don't
know," she said finally, shaking her head in frustration. "I'm so
sorry," she apologized softly, not knowing what else to say.
"Then we'll wait," Mulder replied with determination. "As
long as we have to." He moved towards the bed. "Beverly?" he
asked softly. "I'd like to be with her for a while." He stopped
next to the bed, his hand reaching down to grasp his wife's.
Crusher looked at him for a second, then nodded.
Mulder barely noticed her and Guinan leave, his attention
completely focused on the woman lying unconscious in front of
him. He gently sat on the bed next to her, enfolding her hand in
both of his.
"You're going to wake up, you hear me, Scully?" he whispered
to her. "I just know what you'd say to that, you know?" he
chuckled softly. "You'd ask me how I could be so sure of that,
wouldn't you? Well let me tell you something. I don't just
believe that. I know so. You are a part of me Scully. Every day,
I look at you, and I see something I've been blessed with. I know
you'll shout at me for saying this, but you don't know how many
times I've thanked that God you believe in for making you a part
of my life. Lord knows, you could have done so much better than
this sorry excuse for an immortal. I love you so much, Scully. So
very much..."
He closed his eyes tight, a lone tear escaping nevertheless,
streaking down his face to splash on the back of his hand. He
stared at the slightly red-tinged droplet, then raised his hand
to bring hers close to his mouth. "Come back to me, Scully," he
softly pleaded. "Please." He placed an almost desperate kiss on
her knuckles.
When he felt the faint tingle run down his spine, he almost
dropped her hand. It wasn't more than a mere flicker, but he knew
what he'd felt. He shut out the faint voices of Crusher and
Guinan talking in the other room, and simply stared at the
impassive face for a long moment, his eyes widening in
realization. Slowly, a soft smile stretched his lips as he
squeezed her hand tighter.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Please..."
The whisper echoed in the darkness. She was sure that if she
had a head, it would have jerked up in surprise.
"Mulder," the cry escaped her... lips? almost involuntarily.
Mulder... yes! That was his name. She grabbed onto that
knowledge, desperate for anything that could tell her who she
was. Tell her what she was. And what had happened to her. And
most important of all, how she could return to the man... to
Mulder.
She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth that pervaded her
body at the mere mention of the name. Who was he, she wondered,
that he could cause such a reaction merely by thinking about him?
She loved him, she realized. It wasn't something she had just
decided, nor was it something she simply believed. It just was. A
fact.
"You hear that," she shouted at the darkness. "I love him!"
she declared with all her will, defying its power over her. "I
love Fox Mulder! I, Dana Scully, love Fox Mulder!"
Yes! She was Dana Scully. She knew it to be true.
And the knowledge brought with it others.
The feel of a particular pair of lips against hers as hazel
eyes locked with hers.
The sensation of his touch against her body stirring through
her consciousness, his imaginary fingers tracing a fiery path
across her equally imagined body as she remembered.
The joy of joining with him as they became one, each one a
half of the other, both combining to fulfill each other, to
complete each other.
Around her, the darkness screamed in its agony, in anger, in
fury as, tether by tether, it lost first one, then another anchor
into this woman's soul.
Dana Scully smiled in triumph as the first patch of white
appeared amid the darkness.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"I felt that." It was a whisper. "I felt that!" The second
time, it was a shout that quickly brought the two women from the
other room running in.
"Mulder?" Guinan softly said as Crusher did a quick run-
through of the equipment surrounding the unconscious woman. When
Guinan met her eyes, she simply shook her head. Nothing.
"Come on, Scully," Mulder excitedly whispered. "I felt you
that time. I felt you. Come back to me, Scully."
The two women just stared silently at him, both at a loss
for an explanation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The white canvas spread, fighting the darkness as it slowly
filled with images. The memories came, a deluge that threatened
to overwhelm her as she remembered.
Their first meeting, so long ago...
"Agent Mulder? I'm Dana Scully. I've been assigned to work
with you."
"Oh, isn't it nice to suddenly be so *highly* regarded. So
who did you tick off to get stuck with this detail, *Scully*?"
One of their first cases together...
"Do you think I'm spooky?"
A dark car, a mumbled confession...
"I wouldn't put myself on the line for anybody but you."
A stark realization...
"I had the strength of your beliefs."
... one that had saved her more times than she could
count...
... was saving her even now.
She felt him, next to her, holding her, calling her.
"I'm coming, Mulder," she shouted to him. "Wait for me..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Always...," he whispered. "Forever."
Crusher blinked at Mulder, hearing him say the words for
seemingly no reason. Her attention was drawn away when she heard
Guinan gasp behind her. Almost simultaneously, the alarms went
off again.
The grip on Mulder's hand tightened as the tingling
sensation increased, becoming stronger. Both immortals knew what
that meant. And going by the readings she was getting, so did
Crusher.
A soft gasp, and her eyes opened. "You waited...," she
whispered wondrously, her voice hoarse with emotion.
"I always will," he replied, his voice equally low. He bit
his lip, leaning forward to place a kiss on her forehead, another
on her eyes, and one on her lips. "I love you so much, Scully,"
he whispered, his lips brushing hers as he spoke.
Her lips parted in a faint smile. "I love you, Mulder."
"Agent Mulder...," Crusher hesitantly called. "I need..."
The couple stared at each other for a long moment, silently
acknowledging their love for each other. Finally they separated,
her hand still firmly held in his. He looked up at Crusher, both
of them sharing a wide grin. "She's all yours, Beverly." When an
auburn eyebrow rose at the clutched hands, he chuckled, "Well,
mostly all yours."
Crusher merely shook her head, and got to work.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
S.S. Meercat, Decompression Chamber
Somewhere on the Pacific Ocean
Saturday, December 12, 1998
05:34 AM
There was hardly any movement as the dark woman opened her
eyes. Large, expressive orbs glanced around the room, taking in
the dozing forms of the children lying next to her and the four
adults just beyond.
"You're safe," the voice came from just behind her.
Startled, she turned to the source, noticing the tall man
standing next to her.
He moved towards her, going into a crouch until his head was
level with hers. When she flinched at the movement, he
immediately moved back a step, raising his hands in a placating
gesture. "Hey, careful. You're going to be all right," he
whispered in a soothing voice, trying to reassure her. An image
of her lying on the laboratory table flashed across his mind,
along with the memory of the color of the blood in the IV next to
her. "Do you understand me?" he asked.
She slowly nodded. "Where...?" she croaked, her voice
hoarse.
"Here...," the man offered her a cup. "Drink this." Seeing
her hesitate, he added, "It's only water. It'll help."
She slowly brought the cup to her lips, taking a few moments
to drain it. "Thanks," she finally said, looking back to meet the
hazel eyes.
"I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder with the FBI. My partners and
I," he said, nodding towards the sleeping adults, "we found you
in the facility..." He stared at her questioningly. "Do you
remember any of that?"
She shook her head. "Not too clearly. I was going home..."
She frowned, obviously trying to remember. "I was... I think I
was stung by some insect, and..." She shook her head. "I must
have had an allergic reaction. I think I must've fainted. Next
thing I know, I'm in some sort of lab. Someone there injected me
with something. I remember an IV with this dark liquid..." Her
eyes widened as the memory returned. She darted a wide-eyed look
at her arm where the needle had been. "What were they doing to
me?" she asked, horrified.
"The same thing they were doing to these children and a
couple of the adults over there," he replied, gesturing towards
them. "They were conducting tests on a biological weapon. Where
did you say you lived?"
"Umm... I have a cabin in the Catskills."
Mulder closed his eyes, recalling the map of the bee-farms.
He nodded, remembering the dot in Southern New York State. She
was simply another casualty in the consortium's plans. Although
he wasn't too sure he'd consider her innocent. He looked at her,
trying to decide how to bring up the topic. Finally, he decided
on the direct approach.
"My partner, the one with the red hair, both of us are
immortal." Best to get that out of the way first, he realized. In
the close confines of the chamber, he knew she'd have a hard time
pinpointing the buzz to its owner. "Relax," he reassured her when
he saw the panicked look on her face. "We wouldn't have gone to
the trouble of administering an anti-viral agent if all we were
looking for was your head." He saw her calm somewhat. "You never
did mention your name."
"Guinan."
He considered her reply for a moment. "So... where are you
from, Guinan? Originally, I mean." When he saw her raise her
brow, he suddenly realized something that had been bothering him.
She had no eyebrows! He blinked in surprise. Seeing her puzzled
expression, he explained, "When we were at the lab, my partner
and I noticed the other IV. The one carrying your blood." He saw
the realization dawn on her face. Again, an expression of fear
crossed her face. He quickly held up a hand to calm her. "Don't
worry, we won't hurt you. I was just... curious."
The woman simply stared back at him impassively. Mulder
sighed, rising to his feet. "Get some rest, Guinan." He looked up
at the sound of approaching footsteps outside the chamber, and
made his way to the door. Looking through the observation window,
he saw Bill Scully and another officer escorting a uniformed
woman into the small airlock outside their room. He looked at the
two officers and the woman quizzically.
"How's Dana?" Bill asked gruffly, trying to get a better
look inside the small room.
The man's attitude still grated on Mulder. But he realized
that Scully's brother was making an effort. The least he could do
was return the gesture. He obligingly moved aside. "She's fine.
We finally got her to get some rest."
"Good," Bill muttered, still not meeting his eyes. "She
seemed to have the situation in hand yesterday, but we figured
she might need some relief."
"We?" Mulder noticed the other man punching a few controls.
The gauges indicated that the airlock was slowly starting to
pressurize.
Bill nodded. "This is my first officer, Commander Paul
Riker," he said, pointing to the man next to him, who nodded
silently. "We asked Lt. Zane here to join you. She has medical
training, so she might be able to help."
One eyebrow rose as Mulder looked at the woman. 'That, and
you'd have someone from your boat to keep an eye on us, eh, Bill?
What's the matter, don't trust me?' He smirked, keeping the
thought to himself, instead nodding a greeting when he met the
woman's eyes. "Mulder," he introduced himself.
"Lt. Xara Zane," she reciprocated, smiling. "I should be
able to get inside in an hour or so."
"Good, I'm sure Scully could use the help," he replied,
stifling a yawn. "I guess I'm more tired than I realized." He
looked up at the two officers. "Thanks," he said tersely. To the
woman, he simply said, "I'll see you in an hour." With that, he
moved to the back of the chamber and sat himself down.
From across the room, the dark-skinned woman silently
watched, and waited.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
07:27 AM
She awoke to the smell of fresh-brewed coffee. Reluctantly,
she opened one eye. The other shortly followed at the sight of
the steaming cup in front of her face. Slowly, the sleep drained
from her eyes as she looked up from the cup to the face of the
person that held it.
An attractive brunette looked back at her with a smile.
"Coffee, Agent Scully?"
"Mmmm...," Scully moaned, one hand gratefully accepting the
offer, the other reaching up to rub her neck in an attempt to
massage away the knot that seemed to have settled there. She took
a deep sip, the strong liquid quickly bringing her the rest of
the way to consciousness.
She enclosed the cup in both hands, letting the warmth flood
through her body. Fully awake now, she looked at the woman,
finding her features strangely familiar. "Thank you," she told
her, noting the uniform and the stripes on her arm.
"Lieutenant...?"
"Zane," the woman replied. "Xara Zane. But," she said, her
voice dropping as she looked around furtively, "I prefer Xaz, to
tell you the truth. Unless of course, the brass is around." She
winked, a smile forming on her lips.
"Then, I'm Dana." Scully extended a hand as she reintroduced
herself. "Have you been here long?" she asked, curious, as she
shook the woman's hand. The officer hadn't been there when she'd
fallen asleep the night before.
"I'm trained in field medicine. Your brother asked me to
help with the... others." She glanced at the nine bodies lying
beside the still sleeping Mulder and Colton. "I relieved your
partner a couple hours ago." She took a sip from her own cup,
letting out a sigh as the coffee went down. "Oh, I needed that."
Scully glanced at her watch, noting the time. "Not a morning
person, Lieutenant?" she asked, an eyebrow rising in amusement.
"Oh, heavens no," the woman replied, sitting back. "I'm
purely right-brained. No getting up before noon for me."
"And you're in the navy?"
The woman smiled faintly, shrugging. "This isn't permanent.
I go where I'm needed. I'm here to..." She frowned as she
considered her words. "... observe, I guess. To get insight."
"Insight?"
"Into life."
"Ah," Scully nodded at the information, not quite sure what
to make of it. She looked to the side, noting the other occupants
of the chamber. They would all be sharing the room for at least
the next week as they slowly decompressed.
She recalled the events of the night before as she quietly
sipped her coffee. Once she'd recovered from the effects of their
enforced one and a half mile swim, she'd administered the samples
of the vaccine she'd prepared earlier. It had taken till nearly
midnight before the last traces of the virus were gone from the
bodies.
Towards the end, she'd felt the exhaustion seeping into her
joints. Looking at the other two agents, she could see a similar
tiredness on their faces as they helped her with the others.
Mulder hid it better, but she could tell that both were ready to
drop at any moment. And her brother's incessant questions from
outside the chamber every few minutes certainly hadn't helped.
She silently smirked at the memory of Colton politely telling the
captain of the Eagle to piss off for a while, which he'd
grudgingly done after a few minutes, realizing how tired they
really were.
Still, she'd been reluctant to leave her patients' side.
Even after seeing the cleared eyes on all those they'd rescued,
she'd finally gone to sleep only after Mulder and Colton had
volunteered to stay awake for another few hours and keep watch,
promising to wake her up in case something went wrong.
"Thanks for coming," Scully said finally, adding a silent
thanks to her brother as well. "The guys needed the rest."
"No problem," Xaz replied, finishing her coffee. She stood
and held out her hand for Scully's empty cup. "So are they going
to be all right?"
"Mmhmmm," Scully nodded, handing it over. "I'm not sure how
much you've been told..."
"Just that they were sick, and that you'd been treating
them." She moved to the back of the chamber to rinse the cups and
put them up.
"That sounds about right. They were free of any illness last
night. They're just sleeping now, so they'll probably be up and
about soon."
"Sounds good to know. Do you need me to do anything?"
"Just keep an eye on them," Scully said. "Make sure their
temperature doesn't rise above 99 degrees and their eyes remain
clear. I don't expect any problems though."
The officer nodded in reply, moving to check on the
patients, while Scully stretched in her seat. It was going to be
a long week, she thought, her eyes falling on their one unknown
quantity. Based on her brother's message... Had it been only six
days since then? It certainly seemed much longer. She shook her
head to clear it. Based on her brother's message, it was possible
that the dark woman was the one he'd seen them transferring to
the facility.
But she still had no idea who she was. She'd asked Mulder
the night before, but he'd told her that he didn't remember any
mention of her in the computer files he'd copied. The Gunmen had
confirmed the absence of any identifying data on her when they'd
examined the disk Mulder had managed to bring back. The only
thing they knew was that the woman bled purple, a fact both she
and Mulder had decided to keep to themselves for the moment. It
was entirely possible that the researcher had been right, that
the odd color of the blood had simply been a reaction to the
overdose of the virus. The only other possibility, she didn't
even want to consider. It simply went against too many of her
ingrained beliefs.
Glancing around, she saw everyone else still sleeping. She
sighed as she leaned back to wait for them to wake up. It was
definitely going to be a long week, she decided.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, December 18, 1998
05:49 PM
It was barely six, but the sky was already darkening as they
headed for port. Silhouetted against the twilight, two figures
leaned against the railing, quietly enjoying the evening breeze.
The shorter of the two moved to the side, the last rays of the
sun catching on red-gold hair as she leaned into the taller
figure of the man.
"Cold?" he asked gently, placing an arm around her, pulling
her close.
"Not really," she murmured, a soft smile on her face. "But
don't let go. It feels good." She felt more than heard the
chuckle in the body pressed against hers. He moved so that she
was completely inside his embrace. She looked up, following his
gaze into the dusky horizon.
"We should be reaching San Diego in a few hours," he
commented. He lowered his head, turning to the side to rub his
cheek against her hair.
"Mmm...," she absently replied, enjoying the attention as
she burrowed closer into the warmth of his body.
"You still have a week to shop."
"Shop?"
"It'll be Christmas next Friday, Scully," he gently reminded
her. He felt her breath catch at his words.
"It shouldn't take more than a couple of days to return the
children to their parents," she said finally.
He nodded into her hair, leaning further to nuzzle her neck.
"Mmm... Mulder...," she moaned. "Are you trying to distract
me?"
"Is it working?" he asked.
She could hear the smile in his voice. "Maybe," she replied
softly.
"Good," he whispered, continuing his attentions. "I want you
to forget everything that's happened these past couple of weeks."
His lips continued to suckle and caress her neck, causing her to
arch into his touch. "Just concentrate on what you're feeling,
right here, at this moment."
"No... problem....," she breathed, her breath catching at
his actions.
"Do you feel all your cares just... floating away, Scully?"
he asked, his voice rough with need.
She shivered at the sensual edge in his tone. A sigh escaped
her lips as she remembered where they were. She was enjoying
this, but they both knew that anything more would have to wait
until they got back home. She took a deep breath, her hands
reaching up to cup the side of his head. She turned, blue locking
with hazel as she looked into his eyes, seeing the smoky desire
within. She swallowed, feeling the same burning desire coursing
through her body.
"Oh, Mulder..."
He finally broke the gaze, looking up and out into the
waters. "I know," he sighed. "I love you, Scully."
She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. With a reluctant
sigh, she took a step back, moving out of his embrace. She could
feel the pull, still. It beckoned, a fiery thing that she could
see him trying to control as well. Finally, the desire ebbed
without quite dying away, the flaming threads thinning to a
tenuous strand connecting them both.
Trying to get their minds off each other, Scully brought up
a question they'd been putting off almost all week. "What are we
going to do about our mystery woman?"
"Guinan?"
"If that was her real name." Scully hadn't really had an
opportunity to speak to the woman. Mulder had told her about
their brief conversation that first day. But neither agent had
expected what had happened that night.
They'd woken the next morning to find themselves one person
short. With two other immortals in the small room, neither agent
had really noticed the departure of the third. And since they'd
been convinced that the abductees had returned to normal after a
day of observation, there had really been no need to keep an
active watch. So none of them had noticed the woman's escape in
the middle of the night, leaving everyone except the immortals to
wonder how she could have possibly survived the obviously rapid
decompression.
When the Gunmen had confirmed the missing life raft, Mulder
couldn't help kicking himself for not anticipating it. He knew
that the only reason he and Scully remained in the chamber was to
avoid having to answer further unwanted questions. They'd had a
hard enough time explaining away their earlier swim; he doubted
that their weak story about their submersible having problems on
the way up had satisfied anyone. Why hadn't he realized that the
woman would be under no such qualms? Mentioning that they were
government agents probably hadn't helped gain her trust either,
considering she thought that it was the government who'd taken
her in the first place. Finally, he'd just had to accept that he
might have let another possible piece of evidence about aliens
simply slip through his grasp.
"Maybe we'll run into her again someday," Mulder said,
running through the rest of the week's events in his mind. They
had finally finished the decompression cycle a couple of hours
earlier. The Eagle had left soon after, once Lt. Zane was able to
return to duty.
"Maybe," Scully replied absently.
"Scully?" Mulder asked softly, noting her distracted answer.
"We have the locations of the other farms, Mulder. And
everything else on that disk." She looked up to meet his eyes.
"But will it be enough? Will it ever be enough?"
"This time, I really think so, Scully. I think..." He took a
breath as he considered his words. "It's the beginning of their
end, Scully. I'm sure of it."
"I hope so, Mulder." She turned away from him, moving back
into the confines of the boat. She felt him following behind her,
and reached back a hand to grasp his. Feeling him squeeze back
for a moment before releasing it, she smiled faintly. "I really
hope so...," she whispered.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sickbay
USS Enterprise-D
Monday, April 12, 2371
2108 hours
The screen cast a pale glow on his face as he entered the
final key stroke.
"Authorization confirmed," the computer's mechanical voice
responded. "Deleting specified records."
The man turned from the console to stare at the person
standing next to him. "It's done," he said tersely, not needing
to elaborate.
The other simply nodded in acknowledgement. He watched as
the last line of information disappeared off the screen. With
that, there was no record that either the man or his wife had
ever even been on the Enterprise. The captain's log would include
a commendation for the chief medical officer, praising her
diligent efforts in single-handedly coming up with a cure for the
unexpected outbreak of an unknown biological agent.
"It still goes against everything I believe. If it hadn't
been for you and Dr. Kelly..."
"Trust me, Captain," the seated man replied, "it's for the
best. Better that they assume that Beverly simply stumbled onto
the cure. They can fight proven threats, but there's little they
can do about random chance. As long as they believe Beverly acted
on her own in coming up with the cure, they won't get
suspicious." He rose from his chair, heading in the direction of
the CMO's office.
Picard sighed, conceding the truth in his words as he
followed behind. "I'm still concerned about something Dr. Crusher
and Dr. Kelly told me."
"Oh?"
"The cure only works on the virus when inside a carbon-based
host."
Mulder froze, his eyes widening at the captain's words.
Scully had neglected to mention that part earlier. "Damn! That
would mean... Naraht?"
"Don't worry. We're keeping him under strict quarantine
until we can drop him off at Janus VI," Picard reassured him.
"But considering what you've told me about this group of yours, I
have to admit I'm more than a little worried. There are several
silicon-based life-forms within the Federation. If they should
decide to use the virus against one of them..."
"... there won't be anything we can do about it," Mulder
completed the thought, sighing at the realization.
Picard mutely nodded, tugging on his shirt nervously. "The
Hortas we beamed aboard from Belisarius were long dead by the
time we got to them."
"Meaning they can't be studied to figure out the effects of
the virus on their physiology," Mulder concluded. He knew that by
now, any traces of the virus within their bodies would have long
since disappeared. "I really hope they're satisfied with this
test and decide against any more."
"Somehow, I doubt that will be the case, Agent Mulder,"
Picard said dryly. "It's never that easy."
"I know. But what else can we do?" Mulder asked, raising his
hands helplessly. "At least, in our case, we had the formula for
the original vaccine. There was a possibility of arriving at a
cure given enough time." He looked up to see Crusher and Scully
walking towards him.
They'd obviously overheard him. "There is one possibility,"
Scully said, looking at the other three. "They engineered this
virus, which means it's highly likely they also developed a cure
alongside it. Or at the very least, a vaccine against it."
"It's possible," Picard nodded thoughtfully. "I'll see what
I can find out."
"Be careful, Captain. These men are not to be taken
lightly," Mulder cautioned him.
Picard's jaw tightened, acknowledging the warning. "I'll
bear that in mind. Meanwhile," he turned to Crusher, "what's the
status on the cure?"
"Based on our initial tests and your reaction to the cure,
we've finished refining and replicating enough for the rest of
the infected crew. Dana was just helping me get the senior staff
out of stasis to administer it. They should be waking up any
minute now."
Picard nodded, remembering waking up from the darkness a few
hours earlier to find the two doctors staring at him. Crusher had
had a wide smile on her face as she'd welcomed him back to the
land of the living. Now he was looking forward to getting the
rest of his crew back on their feet and this entire incident
behind him.
"I guess that means we'll be taking our leave. The fewer
people who see us, the fewer awkward questions there'll be,"
Mulder said. He turned to Scully, raising his eyebrow in
question.
She looked away from him for a moment, her eyes coming to
rest on Crusher. She sighed, then nodded silently.
The gesture hadn't gone unnoticed though. "You could stay
for a while," Crusher suggested softly. "I'm sure we could find
some way to explain..."
"You don't know how tempting that sounds, Beverly," Scully
said. "But Mulder's right. It's not a good idea."
"I don't want to lose you two again," Crusher said quietly.
"I just found you."
"You won't," Scully promised her. "If you ever need to reach
us, the Foundation usually knows our whereabouts. We'll stay in
touch."
Crusher let out a deep breath, nodding as she smiled
faintly. She moved forward, her arms going around her aunt.
"Thanks, Auntie Day," she whispered, reverting to the long-unused
appellation, "for everything."
"Anytime, Beverly," Scully whispered back, returning the
hug. They separated, smiles on both their faces.
Crusher turned to Mulder next. "Agent Mulder...," she began,
then changed her mind. "Uncle Fox..." She shook her head,
smiling. "Damn, that sounded strange, but thank you. I'll miss
you both."
Mulder chuckled. "Right back at you, princess. Be safe,
okay? And remember what I told you earlier."
Crusher stared at him silently for a moment, then nodded.
"I'll try," she said softly.
Scully looked at him, puzzled. She was about ask what he
meant when she felt the tingling sensation. She looked towards
the door as Guinan entered.
"The captain informed me that you were leaving."
Scully nodded.
"I hope you weren't going to leave without saying goodbye,"
she gently chided them.
"Unlike some other people, Guinan, we've got better
manners," Mulder snorted.
"You're never going to forgive me for running out on you
two, are you?" she smiled, shaking her head. She noticed the
puzzled looks on Picard and Crusher. "I mentioned that they
rescued me from one of the initial tests, right?"
When they nodded, Mulder continued, "What she didn't tell
you was that she snuck out in the middle of the night without so
much as a thank you or goodbye." The comment earned a round of
chuckles from the audience.
"What could I do?" Guinan raised her hands defensively.
"They suspected that I wasn't completely... human. Their society
wasn't even close to ready for any kind of First Contact yet."
She shrugged. "I did what I thought was best."
"Is that when you left your observation on Earth to return
home?" Picard asked. He knew she'd been on Earth as early as the
nineteenth century, but he hadn't known when she'd left.
She nodded. "With all that had happened, I just needed to
get away. I had been feeling homesick for a while, and that
seemed as good a time as any. Besides," she asked disarmingly as
she turned to Mulder, "I did finally give you an explanation,
didn't I?"
"Yeah, a couple of hundred years later," he muttered
sarcastically. However, the small smile tugging at his lips gave
him away.
Guinan simply shook her head. "It was good to see you again,
Mulder, Dana. Take care, both of you," she said, giving each of
them a hug. "And good luck," she added.
"Good bye, Guinan," Scully replied, returning the embrace.
"And thank you," Mulder added, earning him a faint smile
from the dark woman.
With that final round of good-byes, the two immortals
transported to their vessel.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Private Vessel Eagle
"You know, their first officer looked somewhat familiar,"
Scully mused as they made their way to the cockpit. "Riker... I
think an ancestor of his used to serve under my brother."
"Mmmm...," Mulder nodded absently, taking his place at the
conn. He quickly entered the control sequence to fire up the
engines and get them moving.
"So," Scully asked, settling into her seat. "Where to?"
When Mulder didn't reply for a few seconds, she thought he
hadn't heard her. She saw him simply sitting there, staring at
the stars that appeared outside the forward screens as they
cleared the shuttlebay. She was about to repeat herself, when he
suddenly sighed.
"It'll never end, will it, Scully?"
The unexpected comment drew a raised eyebrow from her.
"You know," he continued, "Picard was right. We can't just
hope that they'll never actually put this virus to use."
"But, like I said before, short of getting them to hand over
a cure, I don't see how..." She trailed off at the look on her
husband's face. "Mulder...?"
He turned towards her, an innocent eyebrow rising in
question.
Her eyes narrowed. "I've been married to you too long for
that routine to work anymore, Mulder," she chided him. "You have
an idea. So spill!"
Mulder chuckled, shaking his head. "You're right. The only
way to get a cure is to go after the source."
"But how?" Scully asked, shaking her head. "We don't have
any idea who these people are, much less where we can find them."
"That's true," Mulder mused, rubbing his chin. "But, we do
know someone who might lead us to them. I was thinking about
Byers' first message, the one that brought us out here."
Scully looked puzzled for a second. Her expression cleared
as she realized who Mulder was referring to. "You mean, Paris?"
Mulder nodded, a smug smile on his face.
"But we'd never get close enough to him, Mulder. He's an
Admiral..."
"Ah," Mulder raised a finger, "but he's not the only Paris
around, is he? I'm actually a bit curious about what his son has
to do with any of this."
"His son?"
"Mmhmm... Buckle up, Scully," he said, turning back to the
console to enter the new heading. "We're going to Deep Space
Nine."
Scully watched as the stars moved, smearing into lines as
space warped around them. "Mulder...," she protested, "it'll take
us more than a week to get there."
"Uh-huh," he nodded.
She sighed. "And what's so important at DS9, Mulder?"
"Voyager, of course."
The End
Futures Past 09:
From the Ashes
by Arvy
-----------------------------------------------------------------
End Notes
Yess!!! It's finally over. After slaving on this for
nearly... what is it now? 8 months!? Jeez. I never thought this
thing would end. Anyway, it's done, and boy, is it ever long. Let
me know if any of you actually got through the whole thing in one
sitting ;)
So, now you know what that last line is going to lead to,
right? And yes, I've already started the plans for the next one.
Hopefully, it won't take nearly as long as this one did. I expect
it'll be much shorter as well.
Let's see, what else? Okay, you've now met Lynn. I know a
couple of you wondered who she was from 'Sweet Dreams...' I have
no idea why I thought of marrying her off to Colton, but that's
what Xaz told me had to happen. So, there you have it. And no,
she's definitely not immortal, nor is she going to become a
vampire, as a few of you asked. Anyway, I briefly toyed with the
idea of making Skinner their Watcher, but considering that most
of the time, he has no clue what the dynamic duo is up to, a new,
more active partner seemed a better choice.
BTW, what did you think of Xaz's cameo? She insisted ;) I
wonder if that makes her a Mary Sue. Hmm...
Now, I'm sure y'all just loved it when I said that Mulder
had been on the Enterprise the year before, huh? I know, another
loose end. What can I say? I just hope I don't loose track of all
the other loose ends I've created ;) Anyway, the story after
next, or maybe the one after that should resolve a couple of
these points.
As for the arc about the Preserver race, it's still
continuing. I have a vague idea of where it's leading, and I
think it'll actually end up having an impact on one of the later
stories in the series. I'm trying to tie it into the fact that
there are immortals among other species as well, with different
ideas about what the Game's all about. For now, just think of the
arcs as introductions to each story.
And finally, I know more than a few people have been waiting
for this installment for a while now, including my editor/beta-
reader ;), and you all have my undying gratitude for your
patience. Hopefully, I'll have more time to devote to the series,
now that school is finally winding down. Meanwhile, let me know
what you thought of the story. Send any and all feedback to
unmai@bigfoot.com. Until then...
Futures Past Chronology:
01 - The Awakening (Oct 1997)
02 - The Light of Day (Jan 1998)
03 - My Funny Valentine (Feb 1998)
04 - Crossover (Feb 1998)
05 - Flying Lessons (Feb 1998)
06 - Hazel + Gold = Green (Mar 1998)
07 - Phoenix (May 1998)
08 - Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This (Dec 2010, Sep 2374)
09 - From the Ashes (Dec 1998, Apr 2371)