From: mgreten Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 11:32:28 -0800 Subject: Scully, F.B.I. by Mary Greten Source: revision Disclaimer: NO infringement on anyone's copyrights is intended. Loc's appreciated and answered: mgreten@xtalwind.net Spoilers: Up to season six Archive: I'll send to Gossamer. All others please inform me so I can send you its url or the latest revision. S: PG: X: V=1: Vulgarity Summary: While Mulder recuperates from his experience in the Bermuda TRIANGLE and Scully must keep their vestige in the X-files afloat. Episodes dialog: Chris Carter and 1013 writers IN OTHER CONTEXT: Scully, FBI ISMS ARRANGED by Mary Greten. ORIGINAL MATERIAL by Mary Greten. Scully, F.B.I. 01/05 by Mgreten@xtalwind.net Ochopee, Florida Had FBI Special Agent Dana Scully, veteran of too many rustic mishaps, been in the glades that night, she would have noticed immediately when the woods went silent. If she were asleep, the silence would have woken her as an expectant hush like the eye followed by the back of a hurricane or the sullen air where tornado tips meet mid-sky. The Jeremiahs, bullfrogs bloated from their wine, slept it off. All the teatotaling animals, ever on the alert, dreaded the advent of the top of the food chain. Their ears followed the snapping of underbrush branches and the crackling of the drought dried leaves under the biped's footfalls. But they needn't have worried that night. The biped was not seeking them. ~~~ 9 am Federal Building, West Palm Beach. All five foot four inches of Major Shirley Strong seethed in militaristic displeasure. If she didn't swear to serve and defend the Constitution of the United States, a democratic republic, it could be said she was "royally" pissed. She had just digested the long awaited results and subsequent orders resulting from her last inspection. It acquitted her command as head of the Army's Criminal Investigation Divisions in South Florida from any negligence in the recent theft of a plane. She grimaced at the memory which forced a Maalox Moment of Grand Mal proportions. A whole friggin' plane. An Air Force Cessna 02b Sky Master which the day before flew in three Star General Alfred George White for whom she personally once performed his and his staff's annual security review. The next morning, the plane was being flown from under her figurative nose into the dawn's earliest light by person or persons unknown. If there are anything the major is protective of they are her country, her young daughter and her jurisdiction. Now, the CID had been called off the case by some smartass Department of Defense Undersecretary SoAndSo. The whole thing stank of the rotten eggs in Black Operations's which, of course, doesn't exist. Like Hell doesn't give off hydrogen sulfide too. Now "they" were giving her investigation to the Federal Bureau of Investigations. "What could the FBI do to find my missing plane that we haven't already done?". The major railed at no one. Her staff knew to keep their distance when she got wind of a deal going down a dirty slide. Until, that is, she wound her way around to a plan that might at least keep the linen clean. An image jumped into her mind... a Warrant Officer retired last year after thirty years service. Now, a Civilian Agent for the CID ......."Baker...Zachary. Zack Baker. He has a son, Abel, nicknamed 'Charlie', in the FBI specializing in Security." She paged her aide who immediately poked his head inside the slightly ajar door. "You called, Major?". The major waved the officious orders at him. "Captain, file this somewhere where daylight is scarce and get me Zack Baker. You remember him? Good. But, you do not recall my requesting him. Am I clear?" "As an ice sculpture in December at Rockefeller Plaza, Major". Major Shirley Strong grinned like the grinch who stole Christmas. "Aptly put, Captain". ~~~ 6:30 am November 15 1998 Ochopee, Florida Tommie Thomson, vetinarian assistant, started her day on animal time to better serve the animal hospital's boarding kennel's clientele. The stifling early south Florida morning's weather was mitigated only by her car's air conditioning. Leaving the front parking spaces for the clients' owners, the assistant parked next to the back door of the animal hospital. Opening the her car door, she nearly lost consciousness from the stench. Covering her face with a "dew wipe", she knelt to inspect the remains strewn across the door stoop. The wet cloth did nothing to contain her bone shattering scream for help. ~~~ November 16, 1998 9 pm. A hospital on the East Coast of Florida "Oh, Brother." Scully sighed at Mulder's drug induced declaration of love. She had to say something to palliate it; it was too public a place for such a confidential announcement. "Anything wrong, Agent Scully?" A.D. Walter Skinner queried as Scully left Mulder's room. She knew Mulder would fight the newly prescribed medications as long as she was near. So, until they took firmer hold, she'd bide her time out here with Frohike, Langly, Byers and, surprisingly, the very man who could lose his job if his complicity were found out. "Sir, what are you doing here?" "Covering your ass, Agent Scully. Were you supposed to be doing something else today, something you promised A.D. Kersh you would not fail or fail to do else risk your final reprimand?" Scully finally allowed herself to be exhausted. She slumped onto a waiting area chair. She leaned her head against the wall. "Qualify. I was supposed to be on the target range this afternoon." She turned her tired eyes towards her former boss. " So, I'm out of the Bureau". "No, Agent. I convinced Kersh that his high handed attitude toward your rescuing another agent, however aberrant that agent's behavior, would not fare him well in his own reviews. You have tomorrow to comply." "Something tells me that's the good news", Scully monotoned. "Kersh raised the ante. You have pass full qualification." Scully jumped out of the chair. "Full!!!?? Pop Ups, stops, drops and rolls? Where?? I begged to be squeezed in just for the basics at Quantico." The elevator door opened. A familiar face came into view. Scully, so unlike professional self, dashed into the welcoming arms of a man with hair like a lion's mane. "Charlie Baker. God. It's so good to see you. How are things at the Miami office?" She and Mulder first met Baker when he was in charge of security for a clandestine oversight meeting involving the X- files. Baker's timely warning served them well. He was open minded and good natured. They discussed him as a third partner in the basement office, but couldn't figure out a place to put him. At Scully's request, Skinner paired her with the younger agent when Mulder was suspended from the X-files for his dangerously inappropriate actions during the Paper Hearts and the Eddie Van Blundht cases. Scully's brain processed his presence quickly. "Charlie. I need a favor fast. I don't care what you have to do or who you have to do. I must take a full qualification tomorrow or I become the fourth Gun Person." She nodded towards the three oddities bunched together in the waiting room. Seeing their opening, Skinner and the "Gunmen" rallied around Baker. Skinner shook his hand while the gunmen slapped Baker's back. "It's already been arranged, Scully." Charlie assured her. "After A.D. Skinner called, I told my section chief of your plight. You'll have your time and then some. We appreciate a partner who swims the extra mile amid the sharks." The young agent's arm near swallowed Scully as he walked her to Mulder's room. "One peek in on Mulder then I'm taking you to a motel, Agent Scully. I've got a room for you, too, fellows." The gunmen declined. They initiated this situation and they weren't leaving Mulder's side until he was safely in D. C. It was their unspoken code of honor. Scully admired them for it. Skinner had to take a red eye flight back Washington lest suspicions be aroused should he be uncharacteristically not early in his office. After Scully satisfied herself that Mulder was indeed resting peacefully under the proper dosages of medications, Charlie grabbed her ever packed traveling cases of generic clothing, sundries, first aid supplies, rudimentary forensic supplies and hustled her to the reserved motel room. Scully was his charge. They would learn tomorrow how her fortuitous appearance in south Florida would assume a purpose in a grander scheme. But, in this urban jungle, one lion would not sleep tonight. ~~~ November 17, 1998 9am A hospital on the East Coast of Florida She brushed his hair away from his face with her fingers. Just as he had done has many times for her. It was one of the few touches they allowed themselves and then usually under or past the direst of circumstances. "Mulder, It's me. Wake up. I have some things to tell you and I need to tell you now." Scully leaned over the bed's guard rail. Mulder opened his eyes and tried mightily to turn his head toward her, "I'm awake, Scully, and I still feel like hell." "As well you should, Mulder. Listen to me. What I am going to tell you is very important. Try to focus on what I'm saying". "I love you, Scully." "As well you should, too." She smiled for him. "I CPR'ed for your dear life after we pulled you out of the water...luckily the Coast Guard was not far behind us." "The world, Scully. You saved the world." "Ok, I saved the world, but now I got to go save my..our asses. Do you remember what I was scheduled to do yesterday before I saved the world?, Mulder." Mulder crinkled his forehead in painful thought, "Um, no." "I was supposed to "qualify". I used up all my postponements to go trekking on our extra curricular X-file hunts. Now, Kersh is on a hunt for my ass with a slingshot. I've got to qualify today or I'm out of the Bureau. That means I have to be qualified at an federally acceptable firing range t-o-d-a-y." "Let me get dressed. I'll go with you..." He attempted to rise. Scully pushed him back with one finger. "No, Mulder. You stay here. In this bed. For two reasons". She held up three fingers. "How many fingers you see?". "Enough to know you're not making an indecent gesture". Scully sighed. "There's more than external aches and pains that we've got to worry about Mulder. You have neurological poisons in your system. You could have been stung by any one or more of dozens heretofore unknown sea creatures churned up in that squall while you were in the water. Are you following me, Mulder." "No. I stay here. In this bed." After she puzzled out his answer, Scully continued. "That's right. It will take a week before the toxins and the medications filter out of your system. If you try to walk to the bathroom, you'll be on the floor step one. That means a Foley bag at least for two days." Mulder pouted. Scully paid him no mind. "There's more to tough out, Mulder. Assuming I can qualify here today, Skinner doesn't think Kersh is going to let me stay. I'll see what I can work out so we don't get thrown out of the Bureau. So, I may not be able to stay with you." "Ok. Hope to see you soon." Scully bent to kiss the shiner forming on the left side of his face. Her autumn red hair tickled his nose. She stood up and swelled her chest like a soldier at attention. "Well, I'm off to the wars." "Come home safe." He squeezed her hand. She placed her's over his. "Mulder, Charlie Baker looked in on you last night. We caught a break. He's taking me to the Miami Office's qualifying range wherever that is." She procrastinated, reluctant to go. "Till then, Mulder." She said softly with her voice. What her eyes spoke could only lose in translation. Finally, she turned to leave the room. ~~~ end 01/05 Scully, F.B.I. 02/05 by Mgreten@xtalwind.net 11am November 17th South Florida Qualifying Range, wherever that is. Word spread like the Ebola virus that a woman agent was being put through the full qualifying procedure including assault weapons. One look from Agent Baker squashed any notions of smart remarks or on track betting from the gallery. Besides, Scully's reputation preceded her. Only the most staunch sexist would dare propose opposing odds. Charlie certified the assault weapons while she tended the paperwork. Scully's concentration intensified exponentially as she donned coveralls, flack jacket, head gear, and snapped the ammunition magazine into her pistol. Pistol pointed down, not acknowledging the presence of anyone but the instructor, she confidently entered the qualifying cage. Hell. She'd been working out and there wasn't much they could throw at her she hadn't done real time...including the paradox of shooting the her partner to save his life. Considering Mulder was the reason for this audition in this modern version of Bill Cody's Wild West Show, if a Mulder cutout did pop up, it would just be a matter of how low the blow. Scully took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Three times. "Let's do it.", she commanded. A few minutes into the set, Baker felt a friendly hand on his shoulder. "So dis is da Super Agent Scully I he'erd ya tell about." Baker's head swiveled. "Dad! What brings you here?". "Agent Scully. Wait till you hear my tale of coincidence and contretemps." He observed Scully's countenance in the cage. "God. It's uncanny. She is a simulacrum of my Commanding Officer." A murmur of appreciation passed through the "audience" as the instructor indicated for Scully to continue to the next set. "Since when are you using ten letter words, Dad?" "I'm semi-retired! I decided to catch up on the Reader's Digests I stashed away all these years." "As long as I don't have to read your reports." The elder Baker snigggered then remembered. "Oh, these packets are for you. Since I was coming down here, they asked me to give this to you for Agent Scully and this one is my orders to be here in the first place. You ain't a gonna believe it. But, now, I want to watch she whom you've been bragging on for two years." ~~~ 12:30 am November 17 South Florida Qualifying Range, wherever that is. Scully didn't hear the roar of the crowd. Neither did she hear the intructor over the echoes of the rounds she just fired. Nor did she relax her guard. Too much was at stake for her to be caught too trusting. "You can stand down NOW, Agent Scully. You are still FBI." Repeated the instructor. "A.D. Kersh will receive my report shortly." As spent and as hot as her weapons, Scully headed for the showers. On the way, she gratefully accepted the cold opened can of grape soda offered to her by an older gentleman and the packet proffered by Charlie. "No question about it: genetics rule." Scully thought. If he wasn't Charlie's father, she'd give up sleeping on stakeouts. Father and son frittered half the hour it took Scully to refresh herself arguing over which restaurants served best corn fritters and salads in South Florida. They knew Scully's mind would be on food and they wanted her brain clear when they explained why Mulder would have to recuperate without her while she helped them trace a pilfered plane. Her hunger satiated by a salad, ribs and corn fritters, Scully listened carefully to the Bakers' case. "I can understand Charlie's involvement in this investigation, but where is the X-file to justify mine? True, I'm no longer assigned to the X-files but nonetheless that is where my expertise has been for the last five plus years including, of course, forensic pathology, but I've never yet had to autopsy an airplane." "You handle conspiracies don't you?" asked Zack Baker in desperation. "Yes, sir. But, only when they have paranormal overtones or under pinnings. I've seen no evidence of either in your files which, by the way, tell us nothing about the plane's specification 'envelope' which includes it's performance reviews among its peers. Anybody look in Jane's or ask the Air Force? I don't think a general 'what's so special about this plane?' question would have elicited the technical stuff." The elder baker shook his head. "It takes a woman...a 'fragile' woman", he recited from Hello Dolly. Scully smiled as demurely as Dolly Levi. "My brothers were into model everything. My sister had to keep her Barbie dolls under lock and key. When you get the figures, let me have a peek. I can't imagine myself having a 'physic moment' over them." Realizing she blurted out a cherished secret, she glared at her two luncheon companions. "Occasionally ...rarely... it happens. Don't. Tell. Mulder. I mean it, guys. Mulder and I work better together if I'm the constant skeptic." The men raised their hands in solemn promise. "Anyway, I have my own case." She waved the packet Charlie had given her. "Skinner found this file on his desk this morning and as long as I was in the vicinity...". She paused in consternation. "They've got a body on ice for me in Ochopee...that is in the vicinity, isn't it? "Okra-what?" The men responded too quickly to be putting her on. "Well, then, finding the town may be an X-file." smirked Scully. Zack took his leave of the "young'uns" to follow up on Scully's suggestion. No Problem there. Many times in his career he worked with the Air Forces' Office of Special Investigations. Scully, newly re-certified, felt re-dedicated. While Charlie drove her to her motel, Scully re-read the file from Skinner. The report, for all the words it took to say it, said: it's over our heads; send help. There were some preliminary lab results included, mostly inconclusive. But a few conclusions fell into the chasm between 'I told you we had to recalibrate the equipment' and 'do we really want to?'. Just where Scully liked it. Scully considered her options. As a seasoned agent, she could solo drive with a road map until a reason presented itself to request backup. But then again, a seasoned agent would know when not to venture into territories unknown without a backup. She faced her sometimes partner since two years past. "Charlie, I've been thinking. Flying the plane eastward when it was stolen was most probably a ruse. Is it necessary that you, personally, re-trace that route? Could others of your team oblige? "You want me to go to the west coast, to Ochopee, with you, Scully?" "Yes." "Ok." "Ok? That's it? OK?" "Yes." "You cheat!! You have some connection to Mulder I don't know about. You had no intention of letting me go alone." "And risk the Wrath of Mulder? Not me, Doctor." Scully crossed her arms in a sulk. "Why do I bother? All I just just did was pass the Mother of all re-certifications." She closed her eyes. "I'm going nappy now. I'll drink my botty later." Charlie's guffhaw mussed his leonine mane. ~~~ 4:30 pm November 17, 1998 A hospital on the East Coast of Florida Scully shut off the flow of one of Mulder's introvenous tubes. Almost immediately, Mulder's eye lids snapped to attention. "Hey." She whispered. "Water." As she filled his plastic cup with ice, she monitored his introvenuous bags to appease her curiosity concerning his fluid intake. Just a minute ago, she scoured his charts at the nurses station. While he sucked some ice in his dry mouth, often a result of antibiotics, she cast her eye at his Foley bag. "You seem to be doing well, Mulder. Any new aches, pains, nausea?" She put her hand to his forehead. "No fever." "Haven't been awake long enough to notice. Not used to sleeping so much. Don't like sedatives." "The mild sedative is mostly a muscle relaxant. You are really doing the sleeping. The sedative is just keeping you from thrashing about in your sleep causing more injuries or aggrevating the original ones." Mulder nodded as best he could. "Mulder... remember my saying I may not be staying here with you? Scully gripped his hand in their special manner that in its superficial context said simply 'its me' but spoke volumes in its subcontextual language of pressure applied and area caressed by their fingers. They both knew that it is not rare for people of uncommon psychological closeness to unconciously develop a form of communication uniquely their own. "You didn't pass?" "What? Oh. Yeah, Mulder, I passed. I 'killed' Kersh, his secretary, your 'friend' Diana, Spender, the smoking man, Krychek, Casidy, Maslin and grazed the Gunmen. I missed you and my brother, Bill, though. Hope you don't mind." "Both exceptions noted and approved.", he agreed. Scully slow grinned that endearing smile as she did in the artic years ago. "Skinner scheduled me to perform an autopsy tomorrow in Ochopee, here on west coast. Near Everglades City. Somewhere around Naples. "I know that place for some reason, Scully. Meds must be blocking my neural synapses. Can't remember why." Scully made an instant decision. "Ok. Mulder. I'm giving the motel room to the gunmen tonight. They're ripe. I'll see if my M.D. degree will swing me a reasonable chair in here. I'll suggest you be taken off the muscle relaxant and decrease the pain killers to determine your reactions. We'll adjust your meds accordingly before I leave. I want Charlie to keep his room. I don't think he slept last night. I know he's younger. Still, I don't want him to wear down." "I heard that!" Scully jumped. "Geez, Charlie, Don't sneak up on me like that...." Mulder could not suppress a chuckle. "Mulder don't you dare laugh. You'll hurt yourself." "Ow!" "I told you so." Scully said not quite without feeling. "I was not sneaking." Charlie objected. "I just got here. I bought some things I thought we might need on the other coast and rented us a van. It's quite rustic over there. Everything else I'll requistion from Supplies." He gave Mulder the once over. "Good to see you, Mulder, in any condition. And I'm sleeping outside this door. " "So scat.." ordered Scully, "Buy the guys a good meal. Well, as good as they eat. Hang out awhile with them, if you will. I'm sure they'd like to catch up with you. Then, pick up my bags at the motel. They're packed. By then, I'd appreciate you bringing me back a laptop with a modem definately and a decent size salad if at all possible." "On my way." "Charlie?" "Yeah, Mulder?" "Thanks." "You're welcome," Charlie grinned, "But, you know the FBI, one hand washes the other. I'm just collecting 'soap chips'." ~~~ 12:30am November 18 Over Everglades National Park, Fl The pilot flew at five hundred feet above the gulf below radar sensors. He reduced the planes' engines' speed to muffle their noise. His instruments indicated they were nearing the drop site clearing. There was always the chance he would not be able to bring the engines on line enough before he glided into the high pines to the east. But, taking that risk concatenated the zeros on to his bank account balance. The marred faced team leader, looked over his team. They were the best his employer could muster. His main qualification was that he was the only survior of previous similar successful undertakings. For him, the money was only a fringe benefit, the real fun was in the doing. He waited for the pilot's mark. "Get up, you dark moon riders. Attach your lines." He waited until they finished. "On three. One. Two.. Three"... ...The T-IOB/D parachute design made it the primary conventional chute in use for jumps when the jumper hooks onto the line that releases the chute once the jumper is far enough from the plane. It's original purpose was to drop one hundred and fifty kilograms of soldier and equipment four at a time from heights below one thousand feet. Usually, for normal missions, only one 'soldier' dropped from the usual five hundred feet or less. If he surived, fine. If he didn't, so much the better. No one knew; no one cared. The results were the same either way. The 'product' always got delivered. Until a few nights ago. Tonight, the elite team floated from the clouded sky. Their objective: find the bottleneck. Take control of the critical path. Whatever the cause and wherever the log jam. Beavers or humans. Whatever, whoever - If they're in the way, eliminate them. "Failure will not be tolerated." the scarred leader had promised them - his face a testament to the fulfilment his words. ~~~ The unshaven man nervously paced the clearing as if he swallowed a dozen Synthroid tablets to increase his already hyper-thyriod. Finally, his ears picked up a familiar drone. He followed the sound untill he heard the thumps of parachute landings and the rustle of the jumpers disentangling themselves from the lines. "Which one of you is my replacement? I want out of here now. You people said there would be no one else here. But there is. There is." The nervous man babbled. "He came out of the swamp on the far side of the clearing... I tried to see but he was to fast for me... It's my time to leave anyway." Once free of his ropes, the leader sucker punched the blabberer in the mouth drawing blood and knocking him to the ground. "Shut up! Do not a say a word except to answer my questions or whatever word you say will be your last". He snarled. The nervous man nodded and swallowed his own blood. "What happened to the product?" "He took it." "Who took it?" "A giant. He smelled like a...a compost heap. Must've come from downwind." "This" the leader spat, " 'giant', you did not hear or smell until he was on top of you, how did he get hold of the product?" "He grabbed the courier. I had the courier gutted. I got the product cleaned and packaged. I just needed one second more to put it in my pocket before I dumped the body. Then, he slammed me aside like I was a bag of garbage. I...I thought I heard the product hit the ground." He whined. "I spent the whole day seaching but with the animals and the rain. It had to go and rain. I couldn't find it. It must have taken it." "Which way did this 'giant' go?" "East, I think, further into the swamp." The leader motioned to the others to get moving then stepped over the fallen man to follow. "Wait. My rotation is up. Where is my replacement? Don't leave me here alone." The leader turned. "I did not ask you another question. Failure will not be tolerated", he parroted. ~~~ end 02/05 Scully, F.B.I. 03/05 by Mgreten@xtalwind.net 6 am November 18, 1998 A hospital on the East Coast of Florida Scully appeared in Mulder's room fully dressed and pressed. Thoughtfully, Charlie took her pantsuit to an one hour dry cleaners yesterday. So, she didn't have to go to Ochopee in her sleepwear which wasn't vastly different from her running sweats. But neither would have been appropriate attire for F. B. I. first contact with other Law Enforcement. "Ok, Mulder. The results are in. You were still in considerable pain last night so we'll tack on an extra day or so on the sedative and pain killers. It's only a matter of time for the bruises to heal." "But..." Mulder interupted expectantly. "But," Scully sighed. "I'm not going lie to you. We're worried about the antitoxins and antibiotics in the cocktail. Your fever is down so the antibotics are going their job so far. The antitoxins were giving us fits." "You fits? ME!!!" Scully smirked. "Right. You fits. Actually spasms. They were being masked by the sedative. So, we brewed up a different batch. The problem is we don't know what stung you. All we can do is search our arsenal, untill we find the right combination or it just may be a matter of letting your system deal with them natually while we monitor your reactions." "Call me?" "Of course. Charlie tells me he and Langly rigged up some way for e-mail to be sent from outer Mongolia if necessary. So, I have the computer to fall back on if the cell phones don't work. The gunmen will still be here. Nothing gets past Frohike drug wise and he knows how to read a medical chart, so he'll keep me apprised." Silence reigned while Scully feigned a goodbye by smile. Then she gave up all pretense. "Mulder, I will miss your leaps of logic and fantastic notions". "I've... seen you make... some fantastic...leaps." "You weren't supposed to notice, partner." The medications were taking effect on him. "Scully! ... stink... I remember..." He slipped into dreamland. "Gee, thanks, Mulder. You say the nicest things". Scully softly squeezed his arm and walked out. The Gunmen congregated solemnly in the hallway. "Watch over him, fellows." Scully demanded. "He is not out of danger yet. I want to be informed immediately of any change in condition or treatment. You know the routine. Nothing happens here without my consent and if I become... unavailable... then Frohike rules." ~~~~ 6:30am November 18, 1998 parking lot. Agent Baker waited for this moment. Scully did not need any assistance entering the rented van. But, grinning like the squirrel who found the most nuts, Charlie opened the sliding door. "Charlie! You have been a busy beaver! A Foward Looking InfraRed! What did you do? Buy out 'HappyCampersRwe'?" She picked up jeans, boots, jacket, shirt, etc and glanced quizzically at Charlie. "The Bureau had a FLIR, I appropriated it. Frohike estimated your sizes", Charlie blushed. "I bet he did." dead panned Scully as she stepped up into the van. "Where to first?", Agent Baker asked Scully once he snapped his seat belt and surrepticiously checked hers. "I want to get a feel for the environment, crime scene, locale and locals. Ochopee, first, then Everglades City. Any route will do. But don't blink. It boasts the smallest US Post Office and not much else by way of landmarks." "Ok. No adventure driving. I'll pick up US41, Tamiami Trail, and follow it west until we come to it. Alligator Alley is too far north. We'd just have to come south again. Scully slept most of the way to Ochopee. Charlie knew Scully as very much a creature of habit, but he was mindful, also, that she didn't take her eyes off Mulder for the better part of the night. Whenever Mulder put himself out of commission or some other force did it for him, Agent Abel 'Charlie' Baker, younger than she by seven years, worked alone with Scully. Charlie never felt that she thought less of him for being younger. What he lacked in education, he learned with longer experience in the Bureau. And, it had been mentioned to him that when Scully worked with him, she seemed to lose years, enthusiasticly so. Compared to the staid, somber professional persona she played with Mulder, with him, she flocculated like a marshmallow. During her feigned indignation yesterday, he thought she was actually going to suck her thumb. He wondered if Mulder ever saw this side of his multifaceted partner. Because Charlie came with no restrictions or contraints, she could be whichever she chose - believer or skeptic or indecisive. He was like her favored brother: no issues of control, or right or wrong here. Anything else can be settled by "odds or even" with fingers or coin toss. Both military brats, they drew from their common background. She accepted his security concerns as valid vexations and he deferred to her consummate scientific knowledge and occasional flights of fancy. While he admired her resilency, adaptibility and wry humor, Scully did have one habit that was particularly annoying. No doubt, she unwittingly picked it up from Mulder. Generous to a fault, Scully seemed particularly slow imparting the case particulars. "Be fair." His conscience scolded him. "It's not like you didn't look up the two towns on the Net. And, she didn't put the autopsy and forensic reports down her blouse. You got what you needed to know." In her sleep, whether inately or by the change in temperature caused by the car's position relative the Florida sun, Scully sensed a small change in direction. It was enough to wake her. Her seat, lowered and back in its track, offered her sufficient room to stretch her legs foward. Stretching her arms upward posed no problem in the tiniest least. From the plastic saddle riding the transmission hump, Charlie handed her hot coffee in a syrofoam cup and an insulated cover. In the brown bag beside her were large bakery bagels spread with real cream cheese. He had picked them up in a town to be named later. No way was he going to let Scully scrimp on anything. He was going to give her back to Mulder better than she was. He couldn't do it when she had cancer, so he was doubly determined now. "Charlie?" He wondered about his facination with Scully. It wasn't a crush; he was sure. He dated older women before. Maybe, it was caused by Scully's presence; a memory flashed into his mind. His cousin, Harry, a year younger than he at the time, having the time of his life teaching his younger sister to ride a bicylcle and the pride on his face when she made her first unassisted turn. "Charlie?" She married her brother's best friend. She drove Harry crazy as he acted as a "yenta" untill his friend got the message on his 'own'. God. What a wedding that was! He smirked at the recollection. He felt a hand on his arm. "Dana to Charlie. Do we have a problem?". "Uh? ...Actually no." He smiled. "You just helped me solve a personal one." Scully moved her eyes away and back in confusion. "Are you saying my snoring inspired a solution?" "Not exactly. But, thanks for the memory." "You're welcome." She paused. "I think." She added cautiously then continued. "Now, did your dad get back to you on the SkyMasters' specifications?" "Yes. Short take off and landing; cargo lode, including passengers, maximum two tons at five hundred feet. That would be under radar. One hundred mph maximum speed. One thousand mile range. Two engines. A good pilot could feather and recover. Used in the Air Force primarily for counter-insurgency and propaganda dropping. The O-2 can fly on either engine by itself and is still popular today among private pilots. All this is conservative. Given enough money for modifications and good pilots, any plane gets better" "If you have the money to modify a used plane, why not buy one with the modifications?", Scully ruminated. "The modifications are illegal or secret and a new plane is 'unproven'." "Or the pilot is supersitious and wanted the very same plane he flew while in the air force. My brother told me a good pilot can experience his plane through the trottle, sound of the engine, vibrations under his feet." Charlie's head swiveled over his shoulder. "Uh. Oh. Guess what we just passed." The tone of Charlie's voice made Scully immediately suspicious. "What 'uh. Oh.' is that, Charlie?" "I thought I glimpsed yellow crime tape in the back of a rambling house." "You probably did. It's the establishment of Doctor Drumas, Doctor of Vetinary Medicine. Where the body was found the other day." Sirens whined. "Uh. Oh. Look what's coming towards us from around the bend." "Uh. Oh." "I think we've established that, Charlie. Make a U-turn and follow those coroner's vans." ~~~~ 8 am, East side of Ochopee, Fl. Drumas Animal Hospital Unsure how quick on the trigger the rifle toting sheriff deputies guarding the crime scene were inclined, the FBI agents held their badges outside the van's windows when they drove up to the yellow tape. As they stepped out of the van, they raised the badges over the doors, then brought them next to their faces for the deputies to eyeball as they passed. One of the deputies pointed to the sheriff. "Agents Baker and Scully, F.B.I. We were called in by your coroner." The sheriff planted himself just ouside of Scully's legal space. Scully stiffened in place. If the sheriff came one scintilla closer, she'd have to shoot Charlie a 'watch him' glance. Charlie was ahead of her. The sheriff sensed Charlie's demeanor and backed away. "You people *are* fast." The agents saw no reason to tell the sheriff the request was made two days ago. God knows the FBI needs all the good PR it could get. "What went down here?" Scully inquired. "Three bodies, naked, unbloodied, no external wounds, cause of death appears to be broken necks. Found by the same woman, Tommie Thomson, Doc Drumas' assistant, as was the body day before yesterday." "Who is the EMTs for?" Scully wanted to know. "Tommie. She is pretty shook up, now that we think Doc Dumas is missing. She was quite a tomboy growing up. Been friends since kindergarten with Deputy Jimchee Randolph, my best tracker. Learned from his momma, a member of the Micosukkee Indian tribe living here in the glades. Tommie tagged along on the lessons. They're about the only young adults that stayed after High School. All the rest moved on." "You're sure the vet is not on a call somewhere?" Scully double checked, taking nothing for granted, much to the sheriff's annoyance. "Doc's been our vet for nigh on forty years now, Miss Scully, Slowing down a bit. He's given his large animal practice over to young Doc Hagen on the other side of town." Scully squinted at the First Response Vehicle. "Mind if we look around, Sheriff? We know the rules of forensics." Scully reminded him. "I'll pass the word to my deputies." Miss Scully. Head down to delay her fraying temper, she walked over to talk with Tommie before the EMT's called for transport. "Hey, Baker," nudged the Sheriff. "Who is the boss Agent here?" "It's her case. I'm her back up." So, she alway's needs help, eh?" "No more than any other agent. She's a Doctor of Medicine. Shoots first. Fixes it up later. There is one problem though." "Always is with these modern women. Only have'em on my force 'cause the law says I gotta.". "Yeah-up," drawled Baker, "She always shoots low and she hardly misses." "That bit of a thing! Needs those heels to stand up to an armadillo. Hardly looks like she she kin hold a pistol much less shoot one." Charlie had enough. "I'm going to hold the coroner's people here until Agent Scully gives the bodies a cursory once over, then I want to inspect the grounds. Anything else we need to know?" "The animal hospital is clean. Still locked from last night. It doesn't appear that the doc was injured, but there seems to be none of his footprints here so he may have been carried off. Deputy Randolph thinks the grounds were wiped. We're rounding up a posse as we speak." "No posse. Too many people to get in each others way and trample the tracks." Charlie strongly suggested. "I recommend not more than five people. Two of them being experienced trackers. Who has the keys to the hospital?" The sheriff pulled the keys from his pants pocket. "Here ya go. They're Tommie's." "Thank you, Sheriff. Wouldn't hurt none if you would join me. You knowing the territory and all." Charlie placated. "Don't mind if I do." strutted the Sheriff. Scully showed her badge with her finger underlining the 'M.D.' next to her name to the EMTs. They let her pass. "What are her vitals?" The senior EMT handed Scully Tommie's chart and EKG. "Have these been sent to a trauma center?" "Yes." Scully looked up at the tall woman, but did not have to ask the next question. "It's up to her if she wants to come in or not. All the ambulances are out on calls, so she's got some time to decide." She anwsered. Scully handed off the clipboard to the EMT. Tommie sat in the shade under a tree where the First Response Vehicle was parked. "I am Special Agent Dana Scully, FBI." Scully introduced herself. "I am also a medical doctor. I need your help on this investigation. You were raised here, know the area and the kidnapped victim well. If you'll stay, I'll monitor your condition. I'm carrying a well stocked medicine chest. What do you say? For your boss?" The young woman did not hesitate to accept. "I'm all right now. I'll just breathe oxygen until you need me to move about." "Good." smiled Scully. Another shadow loomed over the women. "Tommie, I swear you never can keep out of trouble." A young deputy doffed his hat off to Scully. "Ma'am." "Agent Scully, this is Jimchee Randolph. We grew up together." "Jimchee?" "It's really James. When I was a boy I read Tony Hillerman's mysteries until the library just up and gave me the books after I wore them out. Jim Chee is a fictional Navaho police detective and shaman. My mom is still alive and , thankfully, well, so I may well become Jim Chee." "I know a very wise Navaho Medicine Man myself. I don't discount their abilities." Scully affirmed. "I've been told you are the best tracker in Collier County. Who is second best?" "She introduced us, Ma'am." He responded proudly. "Get your gear ready, then check out our van for what ever else my partner and I may need. Pick a hound and handler you trust. We trust each other starting now. We will be the complete search party. I want to find tracks not make them." Scully caught a sneak glance between the youthful trackers. She felt a pang of recognition. "Is their anything else you need to tell me? Tommie?" "I think we may have another missing person." "Who?" "Doc Hagen." "The new vet? How do you know?" Jimchee fielded the question. "We don't for sure, but his office can't raise him either." Scully's eye picked up Charlie, waving frantically for her to go inside the animal hospital where he had the three bodies laid out for her. "Can you walk now, Tommie?" "I'll catch her if she falls.", promised Jimchee. "I sense two things." Scully began. "One, you haven't told the sheriff yet and two, you know more than you are letting on, so give." Scully ordered. Tommie looked back at Jimchee who dipped his chin in a slight nod. "Agent Scully, No one in town 'ceptin' Jimchee and me, know for sure. Doc Hagen is Doc Drumas' son. Only, Doc Drumas' didn't know he had a son until Doc Hagen popped in one day ten years ago with a resume in hand. He said that before his step-daddy died he recommended he see if Doc Drumas would be needing help about then. Doc Hagen just graduated and wanted to work with large animals. "When Doc Drumas saw Doc Hagen's momma's maiden name on the application, I saw him ashen. Anyways, Doc Hagen knew having been told by his momma after his step-daddy died. It was good that he came 'cause now Doc Drumas had some one else he could trust with his real secret who wouldn't think he was crazy." "What secret?" "We don't know." "Then, how do you know there is a secret?" "I've known Doc Drumas since I was five years old. I am the daughter he didn't have and I am blessed with a gift for handling animals. We're not exactly scholarship material but we're not dumb bunnies neither. The student loan funds dried up before they filtered down to us. He sent me and Jimchee to college; we didn't want for anything. All we had to do was stay in Ochopee afterward." "You think they were taken together?" "No, ma'am." said Tommie. "No?" "We think they were summoned." finished Jimchee. "By whom?" "We think that is the secret!!" The trackers exclaimed excitedly. end 03/05 Scully, F.B.I. 04/05 by Mgreten@xtalwind.net They stood at the hospital door. Scully dismissed Tommie and Jimchee to inventory and supplement their supplies and arrange for the bloodhound. Scully performed a thorough non-invasive examination of the victims. Her preliminary conclusion was that they were crushed to death by a person or persons of enormous strength, seven to eight feet tall. Their cleaned and nude bodies was an obviously an excellent attempt to eliminate evidence. She would have to wait for the coroner's report for certaincy. Charlie had ascertained from the sheriff that the three victims, like the first, were unknown in the area. But, an instinct told her that "priors" would be non-existent if anything at all were found out about them. Charlie, of course would check the Government database. They found nothing about the first victim either. Charlie met her ouside the hospital. He had been settling them in at the local motel. "Magic Fingers, Charlie?" Scully asked. "Didn't notice. Will we be staying there tonight?" "Mostly as changing rooms this time. I'm afraid." "Did the lord high sheriff give you a hard time?" "Sexist bastard. Won't belong before we hear he's violated a woman employee's civil rights. But otherwise, no. Since the dead men are not indiginous to Collier County, he didn't fuss when you took over search and rescue." "That and the fact that we are Federal employees going into a Federal Park working with Federal rangers, he must be as happy as a pig in Pennsylvania mud." commented Scully. "Pennsylvania?" "Don't go there.", warned Scully. "Did you check the hospital, too?", she changed the subject. "Yes." "Was anything reported missing?" "Nothing that the deputies could discern." "They should have asked Tommie to do a walk through before she left." "You did, of course." Charlie stated as simply a matter of fact. "Didn't have to. I noticed all portable operating equipment and medications were gone." "I'll call Doctor Hagen's office have them check there also for the portable generators. If the portable generators are still there, we could use them. You want odds?" "Wouldn't bet against them", countered Scully. "Bring fuel either way." ~~~ 9:30 am Ochopee, Fl. Country Restaurant on the far side of town Scully hesitated at the door of the Ochopee's only restaurant barring the ubiquitous fast food emporiums within five minutes from every town in America. Not to mention the the Jiffy/Kwik/7-elevens/ and Gaserterias that Florida has more of than any other state. She had no desire to remember all the diners in all the small towns she's eaten these past six years. She was happy to recall them as one big bucolic blur. This one was no different so far: clean, large open space, counter against the larger wall behind which was the kitchen, large picture windows on either side of the door. A few scattered locals were having a late, for them, breakfast. Using his hand at the small of her back, Charlie gently guided Scully to a table against the restaurant wall. He did not, Scully noted, let his hand stay beyond his initial slight shove. "This is odd.", Scully remarked as she made herself comfortable. "They all seem the same to me." Charlie echoed her thoughts. "Sitting back here." "Why? It's good a policy." "For all Mulder's professed paranoia, he is the naifest man I know. For all his denial of belief in theosophist aphormisms, he is the most ardent practician of 'the truth and the light indivisable'. From our first case and somewhat still, unless I insist otherwise, he seeks out a window seat. So, while he regals me with his outre theory, I get a headache watching two fronts. The times I drop my guard and get too involved in his convoluted construct, we get overheard or shot at." By this time, the waitress presented them with menus. Scully returned it to her unperused while she noted her name tag. "Debbie, What's fresh and cool and substantial and requires little preparation?". The waitress answered in a heartbeat. "Rice pudding made just after closing last night and has been coagualating in the refridgerator ever since." "Good. Two large orders with whipped cream and cinnamon." Charlie griped. "Is everybody improving their vocabuary but me? And, I thought only blood coagualated. Rice pudding, this early?" "Bowel Blocker, Charlie. And, I figure on a full stomach we can march untill late afternoon." Charlie grew pensive. "We have been working together, alone. Do you think we forgot anything? "Let's chew on that, too, while we eat." Scully punned. They finished their early lunch at ten. By 10:30, they had quickly showered, changed and were awaiting the arrival of their tracking mates. Scully had ordered three more rice puddings to go and prescribed they be eaten while Charlie drove the van back to Doc Drumas' place. The bloodhound licked the containers then planted a surprise "kiss" on Scully. "You little monster", exclaimed Scully holding the dog's' face close to hers. "You pulled off a 'had you'? Didn't you fella?". She scratched behind his ears and was promptly rewarded with another. "You, bugger," she laughed rolling the dog over on his back. "We haven't even been introduced yet. You want your tummy rubbed? Oh, you're in doggie heaven, aren't you?" The dog's tongue dangled happily to the side of his face and his tail wagged in agreement. The handler did the honors. "His name is Toby, ma'am and I'm Daniel Sherry." "Well, Toby, nice to meet you." Scully shook his paw then resumed rubbing his tummy. "I'm often called Dr. Watson myself. I'm sorry my friend and associate, Sherlock Mulder, couldn't be with us. He is in a people hospital right now recuperating from a trip into the Bermuda Triangle. Silly man got himself stung by all sorts of fishies. Yes, he did.". Toby couldn't be happier for Mulder as long as Scully scratched his tummy and the hair on his chinny-chin-chin. Charlie listened to Scully babble as Toby worked his theraputic miracle permitting Scully to vocalize her pent up concerns in a fashion she could accept. Scully looked up at Toby's handler. "I recognize you, Sir, from the pictures on the Internet. Charlie and I did some studying up on Ochopee. I feel I must apoligize for your losing your land and the part our government had in it. I honestly do feel for you; my partner and I have recently lost a department we worked hard for. And, Sir, about your supposed visitation by Men In Black?. Did you know that a UFO crashed in Roswell, New Mexico, the founding of MIBs and the first Skunk Ape sighting all occurred in 1947?" "Ma'am?" The handler was totally nonplussed by Scully's reaction to his introductions. "I'm inclined to believe you, Mr. Sherry" "Thank you, Ma'am. That means a lot." "Don't be so sure...I am also called Mrs. Spooky." Two other heads snapped her way. "It's true! Ask Charlie." All eyes latched onto Charlie. "Yeah-up." He affirmed. "Spookier still is she and her partner are right most of the time. Has the brass climbing the paneled walls. Now, I know why." Had Charlie seen it, Scully's look would have silenced him before uttered that last sentence. But she recouped quickly. "Anyway, my lima bean loving friend, why haven't you developed the film of the Skunk Ape that stared straight at you and practically posed for you, yet? You wouldn't be joshin' us?" "NO!, Ma'am." Sherry flicked his western hat to the back of his head. "It's just that I'm tryin to find one of them independent, nobody ever questions their results outfits, to do'em up right. I'm tired of being taken for a fool". "OK, Mr. Sherry. I'm calling your bluff. I'm going to whisper to you the mail drop of three of my friends who can do what you want, verify the results and send it back to you. Guarranteed. I Use them myself for Laboratory tests to verify my own findings at work. Best to send it during the week at the last minute via one of the overnight services." Sherry leaned over his dog to accommodate Scully. "Can you remember it, Mr. Sherry? No writing it down. Once, you've used it, it doesn't exist anymore. A new drop will be set up." "I got it...I keep tellin' people I only look dumb.". "Strange. That's what I tell people about my partner. Charlie, don't you snigger." She warned. Upon arrival at the Drumas Animal Hospital, they checked out of the van, devided up the gear according to weight and experience in use. Each carried a canteen of Power/Gator ade and packets of trail mix. Between Charlie and Scully, Scully toted her medical suppplies. Charlie carried everything else for the both of them - extra food and fluids, sleeping bags, whatever. Once packed, Tommie and Jimchee tested the range of the FLIR. "OK, listen up." Charlie yelled. "We stay together. No separating. Always in sight. And, if you do become separated HOLLAR like I'm doing now then make like the good doggie here and STAY. Everyone understand?" Everyone nodded except Toby who woofed in total comprehension. "We will move in the following sequence. Tommie will sweep a high and low circle with the FLIR. Mr. Sherry will give Toby his lead, until you trackers say to stop, taking care to disturb as little as possible. Jimchee, his rifle and Tommie will then follow them in to keep Toby honest looking for footprints, broken branches...why am I telling telling you this... ". Charlie sheepishly trailed off. "Scully and I will watch your backs." The two trackers took no offence. Tommie swept a begining circle then stepped behind the trackers. The handler gave Toby his lead. "Mr. Sherry", called Scully, "a short lead, please. I already lost one dog to an alligator. Alright, it was a small dog and a BIIIG alligator. But, I still prefer not to relive the experience. Also, we have plenty of liquids. Every twenty minutes, thirsty or not, we all drink eight ounces. Out here in this heat and humidity if you're thirsty, it's too late; we must stop for me to examine you. So, please no heroics and that includes Toby. If I notice anyone tiring, I'm calling a time out for everybody." "Woof!!", yipped Toby. Having heard all this too many times before, he kept his nose to the ground. Tommie marked the nearest tree with phosphorescence paint approved by the rangers. Trees were marked at five minute intervals. Occasionally, Toby used his own method. The park rangers, always understaffed, promised to herd the tourists and campers away from the search area which they had been doing for some time even before the first body was found. Big Cypress National Preserve, Fl Deep within the recesses of her mind, Scully understood she was dreaming. But, the physical reality of it was blocked by a long ago memory dislodged from the abyss of her subconscious nous. "Bill, put me down! I can walk home on my own two legs." Her brother tightened his grip to prevent her squirming free. "No, You cannot! The doctor said to put straight into bed to sleep it off. What in God's name possessed you to drink all that punch?" "I was thirsty and the fellows were kind enough to bring me some." "Kind, my ass. Couldn't you taste the liquor?" "NO! Damn You. If I could, do you think you'd be taking me home in this condition. Bill, they are your friends. Were my friends. I thought. God, Bill, I knew you would be coming to the party in an hour after work. But, do you realize what your friends might have done if I hadn't forced myself to puke in Robert's face. I am not fall down drunk, Bill. I was prepared to defecate to stop them." "And where were your 'friends', Dana? Did they think as long as the boy's were harrassing you they were safe?" "I think so. Yes. Sacrifice the smallest and the wolves may leave you alone. Just because you are not one of them, doesn't mean that some of your cronies don't take the 'm' from 'harmones', switch it with the 'd' in 'dating scene' and read 'hardons' and 'mating scene'." She saw her brother's face freeze in anger at the thought. She sighed. "You are correct, Bill, I am tired. Charlie is home now, too. Do whatever you two think is right. Mom will be too busy fussing over me to stop you if, at all, she intends to stop you." Maragret Scully opened the front door and followed her son to Scully's room. She asked no questions. The sheets were already turned down. Scully felt herself being gently placed on soft bedding. "Dana, wake up. It's five o'clock. We've found a clearing." It was a man's excited voice. "Come on, Scully, drink this." "NO!", Scully knocked the bottle out of Charlie Baker's hand and struggled against him. Charlie grabbed Scully's shoulders. "Whoa. Does Mulder know how cranky you are before you have your coffee in the morning?" "Who?"... "Mulder?" ... "Mulder. Where?" She was nearly fully alert. "Charlie, you were carrying me? This, I ask of a man who works out three hours a day." "You fell asleep at lunch. I thought it best for you to take a 'nappy' all things considered and unknown. Jimchee and I rigged a sling that secured you to my torso which freed my hands for our weapons. You were not exactly dead weight. You seem to sense you were secured and you nestled in. Don't worry. Your reputation is in tact. I told the others about your Mulder chase and rigorous qualifying." Scully nodded her belated consent. "The trek here was...?" "Uneventful. But, something is here. Toby is having a field day, so to speak. Everyone already ate an MRE. I prepared yours. Here you go." "Meals Rejected by Ethiopia. Thanks a lot. Ooh. Did I get one with the M&Ms? Tell me I got the one the M&Ms, Charlie." "Geez, Scully, who to I look like? Willy Wonka?" "Right now, you look like a giant marshmallow." "Somethin' effectin' yo eyesight Agent Scully?" Charlie affected. "In case you ain't noticed, Ah is a man o'color." "Ok, Hawk. A giant roasted marshallow then." Scully amended. "And please, I don't need another fictional namesake on this assignment besides you have hair." "Oh. Darn. I could think of dozens for you." Scully threw him a challenging glance. "But, instead," He dangled a bag of M&M's in front of her. Scully reached happily for it. He jerked it away. "Not until you've eaten the other courses." He sat next to her. As Scully ate, they surveyed the glade before the onset of gloaming. "Did Frohike contact us, Charlie?" "Yes. That's when I really tried to wake you, but you were really zonked." "So, you going to tell me or what?" "The morning medications didn't help so then the doctors IV'ed the next on the list. Frohike said you would know which one rather than trust me to pronounce it correctly. Your mother and Mrs. Mulder are there. When Albert Holsteen showed up, Frohike said he never saw doctors so uptight. It was like you went to the bench to pinch hit." Scully stared into the sunset. "I didn't call Albert Hosteen. I mention him in passing to Jimchee this morning. But I didn't call him." "Who did?" Scully stood up and brushed herself off. "The sky is clear. Try to raise raise Langly now. Please, Charlie." Munching her M&Ms in one mouthful, Scully strolled over to the three trackers. She reached in her pocket for a pair of latex gloves and made sure that they also wore gloves. Actually, Scully was only mildly surprised to find Toby without paw protection. "Thank you all for allowing me to rest. I would be indebted to you further if it did not go beyond this clearing. I owe you double. Now, tell me what you've found." Scully listened with intense concentration at the summation of clues and surmised events as described by the tracking threesome. She did feel that they went over the top revealing Charlie's unconscious soft humming of a lullaby as he covered their backs and carried her at the same time. "Let it go.!" She craved to scream. She felt the wind change. A point also taken by Toby whose nose directed his body to pull Sherry into the breeze. "Easy boy. That's my arm." Sherry scolded. Toby was relentless causing the others to follow at quick time. What they found only Scully could stomach on an full stomach. Their presense interrupted the vultures and the other animals on nature's waste management crew. Scully's examination was immediately rewarded. "Shot at close range twelve to eighteen hours ago." "More prints here too" noticed Jimchee. "One of them looks like it's from an orthotic shoe. And the other a Nike walking sneaker." "Dr. Drumas wears orthopedics. And Dr. Hagen walks in marathons." offered Tommie. "Perhaps this is why they were summoned." proposed Sherry. Scully's ears perked up to match Toby's. "Why not an M.D.?" "Maybe to whatever summoned them the vetinarians are the M.D.'s." "Really, Mr. Sherry? You want me to believe Skunk apes ran to get the vets? Where are their prints? Have you found any? Any at all today? Where is their foul odor? Surely there would be some residue in the air." Sherry shrugged and reached into his pocket. Scully's reached behind her back waiting for an eternity for Sherry to remove his hand. Her motion wasn't lost on Sherry. It was common knowledge that he and his brother spent two years under county auspices for drug possession a long, long time ago. Scully prayed he was fetching a treat for Toby. end 04/05 SCully, F.B.I. 05/05 by Mgreten@xtalwind.net Sherry pulled out a worn package. "Here, Agent Scully, Toby sniffed this out while you were eating. I didn't want disturb your repast fine as it was." Toby pawed at the ground impatiently: so many smells; so little time to sniff them. Sherry let him lead. Tommie and Jimchee went about the business of snapping polaroids to document the ephemeral evidence. Scully took the package aside and changed gloves. The preponderance of evidence told a strong story of a drug drop gone bad. Charlie had even begun to consider the possibilty of the missing Skymaster being the drop plane. With minimum modifications, the illegal mission certainly fit within the plane's specifications envelope. This could be the proof. She opened the package carefully and lifted top the syrofoam box. A vial of yellow liquid. She tiltled the box to determine the liquid's viscosity. Serum. Similar to the remnant in the bottle she found in Mulder's parka in the antartic which really was a specifically designed antidote for an alien virus. Could this be the vacine or a version of one? She repacked the vial. If it was the vacine, for whom had it been ultimately intended? She wondered. The colonists? Or the rebels? Into whose hand was she playing? The liquid had to be analyized. She had to make sure it got to a dependable laboratory. She ambled to where the backpacks were stacked, wandered over to a pine tree, begged it's pardon, then stabbed it with her Charlie issued pocket knife until it bled it's sticky sap on to her finger. Making sure she was not being observed, she found Sherry's pack. There were two boxes of dog buscuits. Scully took one, opened the top carefully took out two bones, replaced the bones the packaged vial. Applying the sap on the inner top of the Milkbone box, she resealed the box. It had 'never' been opened. To emphasize the point, she opened the other box, removed another two bones leaving that box opened. Now to make peace with Mr. Sherry. Mulder should see me now. Scully wished sincerely. "What now, Mulder, Bigfoot?". She shelved her tears for a later time. She caught up with Sherry and Toby. "Mr. Sherry, I've been thinking about our simian friends... Oh, I hope you don't mind, I stole a few buscuits for Toby from your pack while I did some 'business' in that direction." She said using her best call of nature euphamism. "May I give him some for his good work." "Sure, I keep him lean on a hunt. So he'll appreciate them. What about our ape friends?" Toby took one gently from Scully's hand and nibbled bit by bit. "What if they didn't come onto the field; stayed in the bushes? Just pointed the vets to the body? Toby is on the vets' scent. If they approached from another direction, we would find no discernable prints from your apes." "And the odor?" queried Sherry. "Ok. Let's allow them a bit more intelligence. Say you are wrong about their living in filthy 'gator caves. What if they are really primping animals who use execrement as a predator repellant. That predator being mostly human beings at the times when they know they may crossing our perimeters. What do you think?" "Agent Scully, next you'll be telling me they're using the parachutes as leanto covers." "You don't believe they can, Mr. Sherry? In my work, Sir, very little is 'impossible'. And should I see the 'impossible' or clear evidence of it, when I am not drugged, near death or otherwise impaired, it is my job to make sense of it, to explain it, or to continue investigating it until I can." Sherry looked at her as if she was wearing a straight jacket. "Agent Scully, you're nuts." Scully gave Toby another bone and left Sherry talking to Toby about crazy but not so bad when you get to know them F.B.I. agents. Charlie waved her over to him. "Got Frohike in 'chat' you are "'t' 'u'". Scully pounced on the computer. tu: How is he? fro: had an adverse reaction to the last antitoxin. drs at loss. cannot use other antitoxin since derivative of same. need advice. anything. desperate. tu: Is he stable now? fro: yes. but not out of the woods. time not on our side. tu: call marineland/sea world/Cousteau institute. see if they have any insight. fro: langly did that already. no help. tu: tell drs to try a treatment called therapeutic plasmapheresis. it requires filtering all of the blood in his body. fly in equipment or mulder to it if you must. take care. it's a radical procedure and a danger that he might go into shock. last resort only. fro: will do it if i have to fly the plane. tu: know you will. kiss mom for me. get going. fro: outta here. Scully stared, eyes watering, at the blank screen. "We may lose Mulder, Charlie. We may really lose him." "Agents, Over here! Toby's working overtime." Sherry called from the clearing 's east edge. Charlie dug in his pack for a flash light, tossed another one to Scully and took off after him his weapon in his other hand. Scully, only a second behind, waved Jimchee and Tommie into the clearing. "Guard the camp with the rifle and FLIR.", Scully instructed as she claimed the polaroid's strap for her shoulder from Tommie in passing. Charlie and Scully closed the gap to Shelly in five seconds following the dog into the Everglades' darkening depths. Fighting the loss of daylight to document their find, they returned to the glade just before true nightfall. Tommie and Jimchee were just about ready to light the camp. The threesome were laden down with an arsenal. Four AK-47's and three SmithWeston Hush Puppies all with silencers. Charlie was particularly intrigued. Hush Puppies are a generic nine millimeter pistol used primarily to waste guard dogs and does a pretty mean job on their handlers as well. Now Charlie had three for ballistics to match in his missing plane case. "What the hell?" croaked an astonished Jimchee inspecting the wet guns and clips. "In a creek.", answered Sherry. "Yeah, but who has enough strength to practically break off the magazines?" "Whoever belongs to these." Sherry showed him the prints captured a polaroid snapshot. "You've got to be kidding." "Agent Scully took the picture." Sherry gloated. Scully, in intellectual disarray, tilted her head, raised her eyes and held up one more in each hand. "Why?" asked Tommie from the west edge where she was adjusting a lamp. "Maybe they're pacifists." suggested Charlie half jokingly. "Or neutral." proffered Scully seriously. "What's being neutered got to do with this?" The vetinarian's assistant wondered while still attempting to finally light the entire camp. "Neutral, as in Swizerland. They are setting their boundaries in the drug war. Someone crossed their borders." "Who?" "Not the vets. They've probably been treating them since Doc Drumas' daddy settled here after World War Two." speculated Jimchee. Then, even more perplexed, he asked, "Where's the fourth Hush Puppy? The clips are here but not the gun. Could you have missed it?" "I doubt it." Charlie replied, "We canvassed a fairly wide area. Now, we really have a problem." "Wait , Wait. I don't understand why the three bodies were naked.". Tommie demanded. "Coup." answered Jimchee. "The apes didn't intend to kill them; didn't know they were dead; don't know their own strength against humans. Taking the guns and clothes was to be the final insult to them. 'Monkey see monkey do.' Probably got the concept from my mother's people who may have learned it from the Spanish and they from the South American natives." A lamp blew. "Oh! Damn!!." yelled Tommie looking up at her campmates. She blinked and cocked her head sideways to be sure. "There's a light! Due east." Toby, wimpering loudly, rubbed his paws over his ears. "Generators!!" Sherry said. "Get your packs and flashlights", shouted Scully. "Sherry, take the dog home." "But, I always wanted to..." protested Sherry. "You did. You have pictures. LEAVE NOW!!" "Ok. I'm going. I'm going." He said backing up and retrieving his pack. "Ok, I'm gone." "Take care, Lima Bean" Scully quipped to his back. "Remember, it's only a one time deal. And give Toby some more biscuits for me." "Gotcha, Agent". Sherry waved his free hand and pulled Toby with the other. "Let's go, boy, You did good." Knowing that there was a loose gun somewhere and that the fact that they had not been attacked led the agents to believe that a lone gunman of the real kind was somewhere close to the other camp if not in it. "Tommie, go with Sherry" ordered Deputy Sheriff Jimchee. "No. I won't. I can't." Tommie refused. "I am a known even here and being female less likely to inspire more fear. Plus, if medical aid is needed I can assist Dr. Scully. Give me a vest. I saw you pack five of them, Deputy." Scully smiled at Tommie's astute assessment of the situation. They all donned the kelvar vests under their windbreakers. "Tommie and Jimchee will go in. Charlie, we cover them. We have seven bullets to account for. Jimchee give Charlie your rifle. Remove all clips and the bullet in the chamber of your sidearm. Keep your sidearm hostered. Charlie, give me your pistol." They traversed the mile or so distance taking to care to eliminate noise loud enough to be heard over the generators. Crawling on their bellies, they reconnoited the dissheveled, tossed salad camp. The vetinarians were working furiously to save an ape oozing blood. Tommie looked for bandaged apes and counted three. Jimchee, taller, could see another ape yet to be operated on. too many bullets left. "You must find the product" all heads turned to a naked face and body scarred man holding a Hush Puppy to the head of an ape toddler. "I will not tolerate failure. My failure will not be tolerated." "Scully, he must have followed behind the others after shooting half a man back there." Charlie postulated, "Got caught, got away, hurting, could just salvage his gun. Probably searched for, but couldn't find the 'product' dropped the night before. Came back, shot the largest apes he thought to be responsible for his failure." "The baby would explain the rash of sightings." Tommie interjected. "Relatives coming to visit?" laughed Jimchee. "And. Why not?", Tommie silenced him. "Charlie, aim the cross hairs at his gun. Take it out if you can. I'll aim for his head. Jimchee stay bewteen him and Tommie. The other apes are agitated, moving about. Try to enter between them. Go." Tommie and Jimchee pulled off the entry like they've been a team for years. "Dr. Drumas and Dr.Hagen, you had us worried." called Tommie calmly. "Why did you follow us?" "You never left without telling us before." The gunman moved to be seen by the newcomers. Charlie and Scully repositioned in the underbrush. They were having difficulty covering the team. They'd have to go in too. "I want your gun deputy." Jimchee managed to look surprised. "Who are you?" "Nevermind. Slowly, deputy, slowly. Put it into my hand in front of the ape child." Jimchee complied then stepped back. Hopefully the gunman's arm would be numb and he would not notice the pistol's light weight. "Good. Now, I'll kill the ape baby to show I will not tolerate failur..." Tommie, attempting a distraction, sidesteped toward Jimchee. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" four voices screamed. Startled by so many voices including Charlie and Scully behind him, the gunman misreacted pointing the gun and firing in front of him instead. Jimchee saw the gun move and pushed Tommie away. He went down and bleeding. Tommie was on Jimchee in an instant. Charlie mounted the gunman's back. One hand held the gunman's gunhand up and away, his other hand pushing the child out of the gunman's arm into Scully's who was already on an end run around. The Hush Puppy went off again where Charlie had it poised. Charlie brought the gunman's arm around his back, cuffed him and pocketed the gun. Scully passed the 'child' to the nearest ape and ran to Jimchee. He was bleeding and unconcious. Tommie scampered for Scully's pack. Scully checked him out and used a capsule of spirits of ammonia to wake him. "Tommie?" Jimchee whispered. "I'm here, Jimchee." "Come closer." Tommie put her hear to his mouth. "I'm here". "Kelvar. Don't leave home without it." "Oh. You!" "He'll be fine." Scully chuckled. "Probably won't even have a concussion. But watch him for symptoms just in case." Through all of the excitement, the vets kept operating. All totaled the ape population was minus two. The force of Charlie tackle was too much for the weakened gunman, he died unnoticed. Keening for the dead apes began. The apes moved in to reclaim their camp while the humans with body and gear retreated to theirs. The vetinarians, after eating some MRE's, immediately returned to keep vigil over their remaining patients. Entirely spent, Charlie and Scully shared a tent. But, not until Charlie contacted Frohike. Scully listened expectantly while Frohike updated on the status of his Mission and Mulder. He found a hospital with the equipment to filter Mulder's blood. Mulder was stable enough to be transfered tomorrow with Scully riding shotgun. And. The Doctors now think it more probabable that he is recovering on his own. The radical new procedure may not have to be performed. Scully's smile considerably brightened the dimly lit tent. Scully tried to sleep. She really tried. "Charlie are you awake?" "Charlie?" "Huh? What?" "I can't sleep." "What do want me to do, Dana? Get you warm milk from a passing momma boar." "Tell me a story." "What?!! I don't know any 'stories'." "Not even family stories?" "Oh, them I got by the dozen." "Tell me." "Only one, a long one," he said placating her, "then you tell me why I don't want to go to Pennsylvania" "It's not a story to sleep on, Charlie." "Ok, then, Mine is about my great-great grandfather on my mother's side. He played baseball in the Negro league. His name was Exley..." Sherry and Toby made it to the van. The agents hid it off the road near their point of entry. He did not want to believe who was waiting for him like vultures in their black suits. Their being there didn't surprise him him. He just didn't want to believe it. "You bastards again. Now, what do you want? You never did return the sample of ape hair you took from me two years ago." "Against the van, Sherry. We're doing a search of you and your backpack." "I ain't got nothing you'd want." "We'll see." After stripping Sherry down, they turned to the backpack. Everything was dumped on the ground. Everything that was opened was emptied. Nobody accused Toby of playing it safe. So when the human vulture approached his biscuits Toby sat defiantly on his box and showed his teeth. They were his Milkbones. He earned them. Worked his nose to the ground. And no human was going to take them from him. "Hey, look at this. The dog has more guts than smarts. Want me to shoot him?", the man in black asked his cohort. Sherry bided his time readying a pre-emptive strike at the SOB of an MIB. The other man looked into the black car. "Was the box opened?", he relayed. The lackey looked around the protesting animal as closely as he dared. "I would say definitely not." "Then, let's go." Sherry relaxed. The Men In Black slammed their car doors. One of them turned the larconic figure in the back seat. "Major, why are we doing this? Something I thought we would never do." Zack Baker asked. The Major folded her arms. She growled in arrant revulsion as if she had swallowed churned bile. "Fuckin' orders from fuckin' Department of Defense Sons of fuckin' Bitches that's fuckin' why." She spat. End 05/05 Scully, F.B.I. REFERENCES http://www.infind.com InferenceFind2 MetaSearch engine http://www.alltheweb.com/ Fast Search://www.expediamaps.com/ http://www.floridaskunkape.com/skunk_ape-in-the-press/index.html "Monster ( Or Myth ) of the Everglades" Cavalier (Yearbook 1975), by Deane E. Bostick II In Search of... The Skunk Ape" Issue September 17-23, 1996, XS Magazine , by Phil Davis Sniffing Out the Skunk Ape St. Petersburg times November 2, 1997 by Jeanne Malmoren (NOT AT THIS SITE) "Creature Feature" Miami, New Times, February 19 - 25, 1998, by Jim Kelly "Skunk ape: Shealy claims to have new photos of elusive legend" Saturday, September 12, 1998 By MICHAEL McCORMACK, Staff Writer