From: DavidB226Morris@aol.com
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2002 20:40:31 EST
Subject: Third Wheel 4: No Place Like Home  1/3
Source: direct

Third Wheel 4: No Place Like Home
An X-Files/ Oz crossover
by DavidB226Morris

Classification: Crossover

Rating: R (strong language, violence)

Distribution: Gossamer, Spookys fine. Anywhere else is Okay, but I would 
appreciate being told.

Spoilers: To be safe, lets say Season 6. There will probably an odd 
reference, here or there. It is not necessary to have read the other three 
stories in the Third Wheel saga,but it couldn't hurt.  There are a lot of 
spoilers for Oz, so to be safe lets just say that anything from the first two 
seasons is fair game

Disclaimer: Do I really have to go through this every time. OK, OK. Mulder 
and Scully belong to Chris Carter and 1013 production. However, I am 
seriously beginning to call into question his right to possess them. Danny 
Torrance originally belongs to Stephen King (though I don't think he'd 
recognize this version of him) Mike Logan belongs to Dick Wolf (though in my 
mind he has treated just as badly as Mulder was) There are a bunch of other 
characters in the story that aren't mine either. I'll give a complete list at 
the end. For now, it should be enough to know that the staff and prisoners as 
the Oswald State Correctional Facility belong to Tom Fontana, Barry Levinson 
and Jim Finnerty

Summary: The X-Files team joins forces with a Staten Island policeman to 
investigate a series of violent deaths that they discover may be linked to a 
riot at a maximum security prison.

Author's Note: For those of you who are fans of Oz, I know that the Oswald 
State Correctional Facility has never been specifically set in any state . 
However given that the show is filmed in New York, I don't think that its a 
huge stretch to say that it could take place there. Also this story takes 
place between the second and third seasons of Oz. Alvarez , Adebisi and Diane 
Wittlesey are here; Claire Howell and Sean Murphy are not. Also for those of 
you who are Law and Order fans the events in EXILE have not taken place

Feedback is welcome at DavidB226Morris@aol.com

STATEN ISLAND
APRIL 24 1999
7:46 A.M.
 
    There were a lot of bad things about being a beat cop on Staten Island. 
For some reason, it always seemed colder and grayer than it did in Manhattan. 
Then there was being reduced to the level of a patrolmen after ten years of 
being a detective and having the brass lean on him. Then there was all the 
other policemen looking down at him, as if to say "You screwed up royally". 
But of all the things that Mike Logan hated about working in Staten Island 
(at least today), it was his partner. 
          There was no polite way to say it. Officer Francis Yood was an 
overweight,bigoted, foolish redneck who had all the keen detective instinct 
of a blind man.  How it was that Yood had ever graduated from the academy, 
let alone become a police officer was beyond Logan's comprehension. He wasn't 
alone in feeling this way. As far as he knew, Yood didn't have a friend in 
the squad room. Logan wasn't exactly Mr. Popular, but he had made an effort; 
Yood never seemed to open his mouth except to either eat a doughnut, say a 
racial epithet or browbeat the Mets. It was a wonder that no one in the squad 
had shot him; it was a miracle that Logan hadn't done it. 
          He sighed. Logan knew that this was not a constructive way to 
expend his energy. When you got right down to it, he knew that he had only 
himself to blame for his circumstances.   He had set the circumstances in 
motion that had led to his being dropkicked from a detective shield in 
Manhattan to walking a beat here in the barren wasteland that was Staten 
Island. Much as he wanted to have someone else to lay it all on, he had to 
admit that the problem ultimately must come up at his doorstep. 
         So rather then give into his base instincts as Yood reached the end 
of a long diatribe in which he seemed to be criticizing the Mets, the New 
York City Fire Department, Paul Simon and Andrew Cuomo ( though no one really 
listened to what Yood had to say, he had to marvel at the marvels of the 
all-encompassing complexities that seemed to cover everything under the sun) 
Logan simply turned to Yood and spoke two very simple words: "We're here." 
Then he pulled over to the side of the road and got out of the car quickly in 
order to avoid another rumination.
            The call had come in twenty minutes ago. Dispatchers in the 
Staten Island police department were not under any obligation to give a 
detailed account of a crime scene, usually revealing no information as to 
what had actually occurred. The dispatcher had simply noticed that a 911 had 
come in from 517 Parker Street reporting that police assistance was 
necessary. This could be a catch-all that could include anything from an 
ordinary a domestic disturbance to something a little more complex breaking 
and entering. Neither officer thought that it could involve anything more 
complicated then that. Staten Island may have been the fastest growing place 
in the state of New York, but compared to its neighbors, it had nothing even 
approaching the level of crime that Manhattan or Brooklyn did. That was one 
of the reasons that being transferred to here was used to punish cops like 
Logan who had crossed the line in one way or another.
        So when they arrived at the address and saw that an ambulance was 
waiting for them, Logan still didn't think that anything that serious was on 
the agenda.  Perhaps someone had gotten a little bruised in a fight or maybe 
some one jumped the gun and fought that someone was hurt enough to require a 
paramedic.
         The first real sign that there was trouble came when Logan saw that 
the medical unit was just standing around. Only one of them seemed occupied 
with work. The lack of activity told Logan that something a little more 
complicated then a robbery gone bad or a domestic disruption had occurred. He 
took out his badge and put it in the collar of the leather jacket he was 
wearing. As was always the case when he put on his police officers badge he 
felts a little disconnected feeling that he was masquerading as something 
that he wasn't. He inwardly straightened himself out. This was no time to be 
feeling homesick.
         "Officer Logan. This is Officer Yood..What have we got?" he said 
turning to the chief doctor. He took in that most of the medics were looking 
a little pale---- never a good sign.
    "Samuel Wells. There's a dead body in there." In the background, he could 
hear Yood go "Ah, shit." Logan turned and glared at him. Unlike Yood, he 
didn't object to violent crime. He had gotten a stomach for it in Manhattan. 
Besides it beat the monotony of writing traffic tickets and breaking up 
barroom brawls.
           "Any idea who the dead guy is?" As he spoke he tool out the pad 
and pen that he carried with him
           Wells nodded. "His wallet was on the counter. Harold Goergen. 
Construction worker."
    "Who made the 911 call?"
         Wells gestured towards the ambulance. "Edward Foley. Worked with 
him. Says he came here to pick him up for work and found him."
       "Any sign of forced entry?"
        Wells looked at him strangely. "Isn't that your job, officer?
        If he had been the type, Logan would have blushed. For a split second 
he had thought that he was a New York City detective instead of just an 
ordinary cop. He might still be wearing plain clothes, but he was just a foot 
patrolmen with a badge.He quickly recovered and turned to Yood. "You want to 
take Foley's statement?" He was surprised that Yood answered in the 
affirmative so quick;y. Then he remembered that he wasn't crazy about violent 
crimes and probably wanted to stay as far away from them as possible. 
         "Where's the body?"
         "In the bedroom." Wells turned back to Foley
         Logan approached the house with a certain degree of nervousness.All 
right,there was an actual crime here. It had been a while since he had 
investigated a real homicide; there weren't a great deal for him to inquire 
on. But doing any kind of police work was like riding a bicycle; you never 
really forgot how to do it. Start with the crime scene..
        The door was hanging open. Either Foley had left it open or he had 
discovered it that way.. Logan entered the house cautiously. It was still 
possible that the killer was still inside. Again he noted that he had never 
considered before the complexities of the jobs that the cops back at the 27th 
had to take whenever they had went into a crime scene. 
         The hallway was empty. Nevertheless, Logan felt for his revolver. He 
didn't think he'd need it though. The detective instincts that he had used 
for over a decade came into focus very rapidly.  Whoever had committed the 
murder was long gone. The only thing that was still in the house was the 
body. 
       As he approached the bedroom the tension he felt in his stomach 
noticeably increased. He couldn't tell why he was so nervous. The only thing 
he was going to see was a dead body. He'd seen dozens, maybe hundreds of them 
in his long career. Admittedly it had been a while since he had seen one,but 
still a corpse is a corpse. To try and alleviate his nervousness he inspected 
the windows in the house. He looked into the living room. The windows were 
closed and it didn't appear that any of them had been tampered with.  He 
quickly scrawled down "Check windows." As he finished writing, he realized 
that he had reached the bedroom. There was no need to open the door. Wells or 
Foley or whoever had been in the house had left the door of the bedroom 
standing open.
       Nevertheless,he paused and wrinkled his nose. There was definitely a 
smell present in the air. It might just have been the normal (if you could 
call anything related to a homicide normal) of the remains of a dead man. 
However, for a moment Logan thought that he could sense the aroma of 
something else. Something that he associated with some kind of spices. He 
shook his head and walked into the bedroom.
         The body of Harold Goergen was lying on the floor of his bedroom, 
resting on his stomach lying. Even the most casual observer would have been 
able to tell what had killed him. There were several small holes in Goergen's 
back and a fairly sizeable pool of blood had formed at the feet of the body. 
Logan wasn't an ME, but it would not have taken a rocket scientist to tell 
what had killed Goergen. Someone had taken a knife and had turned him into a 
pincushion. As he walked around the body, he checked the windows of the 
bedroom. They were closed and shut from the inside. Whoever had committed 
this crime hadn't come in through any notable point of entrance.
         For a moment Logan considered whether or not he should wait until 
someone from  the coroners office showed up. He then made a unilateral 
decision to take a closer examination of the body. Suddenly it seemed very 
important that he get a good solid look at what Goergen's face looked like. 
He knelt to the floor and very carefully turned his head so that it faced him.
          The expression that was on his body gave Logan the impression that 
Goergen had died in a state of total shock. Whatever it was that had happened 
to the man, it had caught him completely and totally by surprise.
          Slowly Logan stood back up. For some reason looking at the 
expression on the dead man's face had unnerved him. After a moment, he 
realized why it was bothering him so much.
        When a man receives a quick death, like a bullet through the head or 
a letter opener in the neck, the last expression (if there is one at all) is 
one of shock, as if whoever it happened so quickly that it seemed that it has 
come as a completely and utter surprise. But with a more prolonged death 
involving multiple attacks there was at least a sign that whoever it was 
involved in the attacks at least had tried to fight back. There was no sign 
of this Goergen's face. Even after he had been stabbed the first few times, 
he still had a look of astonishment on his face.  As if whatever had happened 
had taken him completely by surprise.
        OF course these were not rules that a man could live be as if they 
were unalterable.There were at least several other rules that you had to 
observe whenever you were examining a dead body. Yet it was the look of 
surprise on Goergen's face that bothered Mike Logan most of all. Somehow, he 
knew that the man had never seen it coming. 
        What kind of monster could enter a mans home and  stab the owner 
several times without not only an sign of forced entry but with the victim 
not even noticing him until the very last moments of his life? The image 
bothered Logan as he got and prepared to talk with Yood. 
         Despite the shock that he felt at seeing Goergen's body, Logan could 
feel the faintest bit of energy crackling as he prepared to begin the 
investigation. Though he would have never admitted it to Yood, he was 
beginning to feel like he was a detective again. Part of him hated the 
feeling and knew that this was still a man's death that was on him. But part 
of it made him feel like he was a cop again instead of a glorified patrolman. 
Part of him hated the feeling but part of him treasured it.
    Savored it.

 SQUAD ROOM
APRIL 25
8:45 A.M.

         Twenty four hours later, Mike Logan had lost whatever energy had 
suddenly come over him when he had first began to investigate the stabbing of 
Harold Goergen.  Instead a feeling of frustration had begun to overcome him. 
It was the feeling that he always got when a case got stalled along the way.
          Immediately after he had examined the crime scene, Logan had 
finished inspecting the house. There was no apparent sign of forced entry and 
when Yood had finally managed to get a statement out of Foley, he had learned 
that Foley was the only other person that had an extra key to get into the 
house.  The door had been shut and locked when Foley had opened it, according 
to him.
             An investigation into Goergen's background had turned up little. 
Goergen was thirty seven, single and had no family to speak of. He wasn't 
involved with any women and he didn't have any outstanding debts or any loans 
that had gone bad. The house had belonged to his father and Goergen had 
inherited it when he had died five years ago,so that led nowhere. 
Furthermore, it seemed that he hadn't had much free time during which he 
could have possibly run into bad company. He was just a bricklayer in a 
construction company. That barely earned him enough money to make ends meet, 
so he spent his weekends in the National Guard serving Uncle Sam. Looking 
into his friends and colleagues led nowhere. There seemed to be no reason why 
anybody would want to kill someone like him. 
        By the time Logan had finished with the cursory check into Goergen's 
background, he had hope that the forensic analysis had found something. That 
hope quickly proved to be ill-founded. Apart from the blood at the crime 
scene, there was little evidence to be found. There were no fingerprints at 
the scene that didn't belong to the victim; there were no hairs or fabrics 
available for trace analysis and the medical examiner (after taking a long 
time to investigate the body could not reveal much other than that Goergen 
had been killed between 10 P.M. And midnight the previous day and that he had 
been stabbed.
           All and all, the inquiry into the murder of Harold Goergen was 
going very badly. So when Logan received word that his captain wanted to see 
him in connection with the investigation, he assumed that it would be to chew 
him out for doing such a piss-poor job. Lieutenant Harris didn't like him 
much to begin with, so he really wasn't looking forward to this conversation.
             As he entered Harris' office, he saw that there were two men and 
a woman waiting in the office with him. All three were dressed in clothes 
that screamed that they were higher up on the law enforcement food chain then 
him. One of them looked a lot younger than the other two. He was trying to 
make up for by wearing a black leather jacket and a natty brown fedora that 
for a moment reminded Logan of his first partner, Max Greevey. The other man 
was wearing a dark suit and appeared to be in conversation with the 
Lieutenant.
    "You wanted to see me, Lieutenant?" The older agent turned around to face 
Logan.
       "Are you Officer Logan?" Inwardly Logan winced. Four years at Staten 
Island and it still hurt whenever someone referred to him by his current 
title instead of detective. Outwardly, he nodded
        "I'm Special Agent Mulder. These are my partners, Agent Scully and 
Agent Torrance. We're with the FBI." At this point Harris finally turned 
around and faced him.
           "How is the Goergen investigation going?" The big prick even 
managed to sound condescending while appearing to look concerned.. With a 
tremendous effort, Logan managed to shove down the feeling of resentment that 
he felt towards his superior..
            "Why does the FBI have an interest in his death?" Agent Mulder 
turned towards Logan and handed him a manilla folder. Logan opened it. The 
first thing that caught his eye was a photograph of a man lying in a pool of 
his blood with several stab wounds in the back. 
            "On April 10, Lyle Thurman was found stabbed to death in his 
bedroom in Brooklyn. There was no sign of forced entry and no evidence that 
someone entered the house at all.." Mulder pulled out another folder. "On 
April 14, Gerald Halleck was killed in a similar manner."
             "You think that the three murders are somehow related?"
            At this point the other male agent----Torrance--- turned to Logan.
"Was Harold Goergen a member of the National Guard?"
            Logan nodded. "Were Thurman and Halleck?"
            "Yes, but we're not sure that it means anything. There are over 
forty thousand men in the New York division of the National Guard, so there's 
got to be more to this then three guys deciding to serve there country."
           "What we were wondering was if we could possibly see the folder on 
this guy Goergen. See if there is anything else that connects him to these 
earlier murders." said Mulder. "And Agent Scully is a forensic pathologist, 
so possibly she could have a look at Goergen's body."
         "Does that mean that you are taking over jurisdiction on this case?" 
asked Harris.
        This time the female agent answered. "The bureau must become involved 
in the event of a possible serial murder. However we would appreciate any 
help that you and your partner could give us."
           When he was a detective, Logan hadn't had much use for federal 
agents. Whenever they had decided to get involved in a case, the end result 
was almost always got involved in a whose was bigger contest. These Feds, 
however, seemed somewhat different. They seemed to realize that they were in 
a situation that defied easy characterization. They probably would be willing 
to take a little help
         "I should probably talk with my partner."
         "That won't be necessary. Officer Yood is testifying in the 
Rodriguez case today."
          Logan looked at his lieutenant with a certain measure of 
surprise.The Rodriguez case was a simple armed robbery. The police 
involvement had been minimal at best.  Furthermore, Yood was almost as bad at 
testifying in court as he was with everything else involving police work.  
Harris was deliberately trying to get Yood out of sight for this case. And if 
Harris was concerned about procedure, then this must be more serious than he 
had thought it was.
           For a moment Mike Logan began to think of things that he had not 
dared allow to cross his mind in three years. Maybe this was the case. Maybe 
these deaths would be the key that he could use to get back in to the 
Manhattan police.His mind warned him that these were dangerous and foolish 
thoughts to have go through his mind, but nevertheless he allowed himself to 
think them.
         All this passed through Logan's mind in a matter of seconds.   He 
gathered himself and turned to the three agents and simply asked: "All right. 
Where do you want to begin?"


CRIME SCENE
11: 13 A.M.

         Danny Torrance had been working on the X-Files for slightly more 
than two months.  During that time he had been trying to detect a pattern 
that his partners on the unit had developed in over six years of working 
together. There had been a few events that he had noticed. Usually Mulder led 
the way in these investigation,. He would enter the office   and cheerfully 
proclaim that a certain bizarre event had taken place. He would then 
illustrate with a series of slides. Then he would proclaim that he had bought 
three tickets to Intercourse, Pennsylvania or whatever to bit town the 
"paranormal activity" that had caught his attention. Scully would then try to 
bring Mulder down with the almost frustrating and infuriating calm that she 
brought to everything.. Sometimes Danny couldn't understand how Mulder could 
tolerate her maddening rationality in the face of all the things that they 
had seen in the past two months, let alone everything that she had seen in 
the time she and Mulder had been working together. Eventually, they would 
find that the case was usually closer to Mulder's perception of it then 
Scully's but she would usually work on the reports and see that whatever it 
was they had investigated whether it be zombies that killed by touch or 
humans that changed into mythical dogs had a rational spin on it. Danny 
wasn't entirely sure that he liked her approach to work but he had to admit 
it saved them a lot of trouble with the powers that be.
        This case, however, was different. For one thing, it had been brought 
to their attention by A.D. Skinner. In the time that he had been working in 
the basement Torrance still wasn't quite sure of what to make of his new 
boss. Whenever he had  to give him a report, Skinner didn't seem to care what 
paranormal events they had been investigating just as long as they filled out 
the paperwork properly. He always spoke guardedly as if there was some kind 
of line that he was walking and trying hard not to cross over.. Danny hadn't 
tried to read his thoughts but he got the impression that Skinner was keeping 
something from him and his partners.
    They hadn't received a plethora of details on this case, either. Skinner 
hadn't told them a great deal only that it was possible that someone was 
brutally killing people in New York and the victims had nothing in common 
except that they were men and they belonged to the National Guard. 
           "Why are you asking us to investigate this case?" With that 
remark, Danny had immediately drawn attention to himself. He didn't care; 
since he had been very young he had always believed in challenging authority. 
         Skinner had turned to him and fixed him with a glare. Danny had 
stared right back. The temperature in the basement dropped several degrees 
but neither man backed down. Finally Skinner blinked and said in a calm voice 
filled with authority "This is a serious matter, Agent Torrance. Three people 
have been murdered.WE believe that this department of the bureau can best 
come up with an explanation as to how and why this crime occurred. You will 
investigate and you will help us solve this crime. DO you understand?"
        Danny hadn't and would have no doubt responded in the negative. 
However at that point Mulder had spoken up and told Skinner that they would 
be on the next train to New York. This had surprised him and he thought that 
it had surprised Scully too.
        Now after hours of travel on trains and boats and cars, Danny finally 
had a moment to talk with Mulder alone as they walked into the Goergen 
house(Scully had gone to the coroners office).
         "Mulder ,what the hell are we doing here?" Mulder fixed him with a 
puppy dog look that Danny had seen him give to Scully whenever he had wanted 
to make mischief.
          "What's wrong Torrance? Don't you like the Big Apple?"
         "Don't fuck around, Mulder; it has been a lousy day. Besides doesn't 
it bother you that we were called out on this case?"
           "Why should it bother me?" Mulder said innocently
           "Because this isn't an X-File. If there was something unusual 
about the case I'd understand. But these are just straight forward homicides. 
There is nothing about them that calls for someone whose method of thinking 
is...."
           "Spooky?"
          "I was going to say outside the box, but if you want to use that 
particular adjective that's fine." Both men smiled before Mulder spoke to him.
           "From time to time, Skinner used ask Scully and me to look into 
cases that don't involve any supernatural element. I don't necessarily like 
doing it, but the cost of doing business in the basement is that from time to 
time we have to look into things that don't usually correspond with our area 
of expertise."
            "So that's why you didn't put up a fight?" Mulder nodded.
            "Besides you saw how much acclaim we got from investigating the 
Fact Or Fiction murders. Maybe if we solve these murders we'll get a piece on 
the six o'clock news."
             By now they had reached the bedroom door. It was surrounded by 
police tape.   Officer Logan who had been walking discreetly behind them wh
ile they had their conversation walked ahead of them and pulled the tape back 
.
            Whenever he, Mulder and Scully had investigated a case that 
required the presence of local law enforcement, most of the time they had 
taken an attitude with them.Policemen and federal agents had troubles getting 
along usually. Logan, in contrast, had been unusually helpful. It could be 
that he was just sucking up to his lieutenant, but Danny was able to glean 
from their interaction (part of it was his ability, part of it was his police 
instincts) that Logan didn't give a rat's ass what Harris thought. There was 
more to this man than met the eye, Danny was sure of that
             As he walked into the bedroom, Danny suddenly began to smell 
oranges. A cool feeling began to fill his entire body.   He knew what that 
sensation meant and as always he felt a bit afraid. Evidently his condition 
became noticeable to Officer Logan. "You gonna be all right?."
           Danny hated it when people no matter how well meaning they were 
patronized him because of his unusual behavior. Mulder and Scully sometimes 
did the same thing and it bugged the hell out of him, despite the fact that 
sometimes he needed the help. With a great deal of effort, he managed to 
submerge the feeling of chills that had begun to run up and down his spine 
"I'll be OK."
             Goergen's bedroom looked no different then the normal bedroom in 
any one of the houses in the state of New York--- if you could ignore the 
chalk outline that was painted on the ground and the now dried pool of blood 
that lay on the carpet.
           Danny knelt to the ground to take a closer look at the ground, 
trying to ignore the sensation that was now filling his entire body.  
"Officer Logan, you were first on the scene."
             "Yeah."
             "What were you impressions as to what happened."Mulder picked up 
the thread of the conversation.
             "What do you mean, my impression. I thought that somebody turned 
this guy Goergen into a pincushion."
             "And you didn't think that there was anything odd about it."
        Logan seemed to think about it for a moment.. "Now that you mention 
it, I did notice something a little out of place. Goergen was stabbed in the 
back and the chest according to the coroner, right?" Mulder nodded; Danny 
struggled to keep his composure. "So that means that at one point, Goergen 
was facing his attacker."
            "So?"
           "There were no signs of a struggle and no defensive wounds on the 
body. Now I could buy that the killer might have been able to sneak up on 
Goergen if this was a shooting, but...."
           ":But considering that this was a stabbing and the number of 
wounds,its pretty hard to believe that Goergen wouldn't have put up some kind 
of a fight." Mulder finished the sentence
            "Exactly."
            At this point Danny could no longer hold back his power. He let 
the shine over take him.
        
            -----He was standing in Goergen's bedroom. Everyone was exactly 
the same as it had been a minute ago.But Danny could see that  wasn't true. 
The police tape was gone. The chalk outline was gone. The dried pool of blood 
had disappeared.  The room looked as ordinary as any of a hundred other rooms 
in New York City.
         Except that was wrong too. Danny was alone in the room---but he 
wasn't. He couldn't see anybody. He couldn't hear anybody. But someone or 
something was in the room with him. And he knew something else.Whether it was 
his instincts as a cop or those of someone who 'shone'. He knew that there 
was a presence in the room. 
         And it was hungry.
         The door opened.The light came on. A man was walking into the 
room.Though he had never seen him outside of photos where he had been in a 
prone position, Danny knew that he was looking at Harold Goergen.
        Get out, he tried to scream. Get out while you still can. Except 
nothing came out. Why should it? After all he wasn't actually here. For all 
intents and purposes, Harold Goergen was alone in the room.
        Except that somehow he wasn't. And something must have caused 
something in Goergen's mental wiring to . There was an expression on his 
face. One that was equal parts suspicion and fear.
      "Hello? " He walked over to the closet and opened it. He found nothing 
there. But that did not stop whatever it was that was making his alarms go 
crazy. He walked from the closet over to the bedroom window. "Anybody there."
        Run, Get out! You know that something is here. Get out before it 
comes. 
       Danny didn't know if he was actually talking or whether or not he was 
just speaking with his mind. He knew that Goergen couldn't hear him but he 
was helpless to stop himself. 
       In either case it didn't matter. 
       The first wound appeared in the small of the back. It was about the 
size of a dime.. The second wound appeared about an inch lower. Goergen let 
out a scream, but his mouth choked on the blood. The third and the fourth 
wounds appeared a second later. He was trying to say something, perhaps some 
plea for mercy, but it stuck in his throat. Torrance looked frantically for 
the killer,but nothing was there. And yet he could still feel that other 
presence Then the first wound struck him in the chest. At this point Goergen 
had dropped to his knees. The look on his face was still one of frantic 
disbelief. His hands lay at his side. For a horrible second he looked like he 
was going to going to start singing " Then he grasped at his chest.. The 
second and third wounds then appeared below the first one. It was then that 
Danny got his only glimpse of the something else that was their . The 
presence of a shadow standing a few feet away from Goergen. Suddenly he saw 
something the faint outline of a man. Danny could see the man. He was barely 
visible.He then fell forward and----
        
         "Torrance? Torrance are you OK?"
           Danny felt that he was coming back to himself. He noticed that 
Mulder and Logan were standing near him. He wondered if he had passed out , 
but according to his watch if he had it had only been for a few seconds. For 
a minute he felt like saying "I'm fine." but Scully had the habit of saying 
that when she clearly was not feeling up to par.
          "I'm all right."
          Logan looked at him for a second. "You sure? For a moment it seemed 
that you were really out there." Danny almost laughed at his appropriate 
phrasing, but quickly covered it as that would lend little credence to his 
actually being all right 
            "Mulder? I just had a thought."
            "Really. I've actually got a theory."
            "Let me guess. The reason that Harold Goergen looked as if he 
never saw it coming is that the killer was someone who couldn't be seen." 
            The look of astonishment on Mulder's face would have given Danny 
a great deal more pleasure if he was in greater possession of his 
faculties.As it was he still took a certain amount of satisfaction.Officer 
Logan, on the other hand was looking at him as if he had just gone crazy. 
Danny wasn't disturbed by it. He had gotten used to seeing it on peoples face 
whenever Mulder sprang one of his theories on local law enforcement.
            Mulder recovered quickly. "How did you figure that out?"
            "It just came to me."
           "Wait a minute. Are you telling me that Goergen was snuffed by the 
Invisible Man?" Logan had recovered quickly
             "Not necessarily invisible, Officer Logan. There are hundreds of 
documented case studies of people being attacked by unseen forces.These 
poltergeists often appear in case where a particularly violence has been 
done. " 
            For a moment Logan didn't respond. "Unseen forces. Poltergeists."
            "Or it could possibly be the work of a voodoo 
practitioner.Someone who works with those kinds of forces could have 
performed this kind of work."
          LOgan paused for a second taking in what Mulder   had just said. 
"What exactly is the X-Files ?"
          Danny was afraid to say anything because he believed that anything 
that he could tell Logan would cause him to drop in his perception. Mulder , 
however, could give a tinkers fart about what people thought of him, did 
speak.
        "Agent Torrance and I investigate paranormal phenomena and 
supernatural activities"
          Logan just looked at them for a moment. Danny could imagine what 
thoughts must be running through his mind. "So your telling me that we have 
three dead men and the bureau sends out to investigate three people who chase 
ghosts for a living?"
         "Officer Logan, I know that how hard this may be to believe but we 
are very good at what we do." Danny hated how foolish he sounded defending 
his position.
         "I'm sure that you are. But I've seen my share of mysterious death 
in locked rooms before. And I'm sure that there has got to be a simpler 
explanation then --- poltergeists, was it?"
          "Well then you tell me Officer Logan. There is no sign of forced 
entry; there are no fingerprints or signs of trace evidence; how do you think 
a killer managed to sneak into the house without even leaving a sign that he 
had been there?"
           Before Logan could begin to form a response to the question, 
Mulder's phone rang. "Mulder." He paused. Danny thought he knew who was on 
the other line. He could tell by the body language. "You sure?"   Another 
pause. "OK. We'll meet you back at the station." He hung up and turned to 
Danny.
         "Scully?"
        Mulder nodded. "She just finished with Goergen's autopsy. No great 
revelations, but....."
          "But what?"
          "She said that there was something odd about the nature of the 
wounds."
            "Odd how?"

STATION HOUSE
1:45 P.M.

       "The wounds were shaped differently than the usual kind of puncture 
left by stabbing." Scully said as she showed him the photograph of the 
wounds. Danny could have done just as well if he had gone without seeing 
them. "If the killer used a knife,he didn't use one that I've seen before."
       "And these stab wounds are consistent with the wounds found on Halleck 
and Thurman?" asked Mulder.
       "Without having done an examination of the bodies, I can't say with 
any certainty but I would think that its a pretty good bet."
         "So the killer is able to strike without being seen and uses a brand 
of knife that doesn't match with any kind of knife in the book..What kind of 
killer uses that kind of attack?" mused Danny
         "I must admit that I'm a little perplexed by the use of stabbing. 
Most of these paranormal attacks involving the men being strangled or 
severely beaten--- like that case in Philadelphia remember?" Mulder looked at 
Scully.
 She looked blank for a moment., then her face cleared
           "Yeah that woman who had an invisible protector." When Danny 
looked at them with a blank expression. "Old case. Before your time."
           "Besides in that case the ghostly force was protecting a person, 
not hurting her."
          "None of that answers the questions what kind of attack did this 
killer use?"
          "Maybe the killer didn't use a knife." All three agents looked at 
Officer Logan in surprise. The agents had asked the police officer to help 
them go over the file. However, they had not spoken much to him and he had 
not offered anything until now..
          "What are you talking about?"
          "The reason that you couldn't identify the wounds on Goergen's body 
might be because they are not from a knife.I've seen these kind of wounds 
before."
        "Where?" Mulder spoke for all of them.
        "Jailhouse killings."
        "Excuse me?" Danny was a little puzzled but he was beginning to see 
vaguely what Logan was talking about.
        "In prison, men can fashion shanks out of anything. From toothbrushes 
to bed springs, those kind of knives are the greatest products of the penal 
system.They can be pretty crude but they work and that's all that matters."
           "What makes you so sure that its that type of weapon that is being 
used?"   Mulder had a look on his face that was equal parts dismay and 
admiration. It wasn't often that someone beat him to making a connection on 
any kind of case and while it must have galled him, he still wanted to see 
this case closed.
          In answer, Logan handed them a file. "I asked them to put the crime 
over the wire. In addition to Goergen, Thurman and Halleck, a man in Camden, 
New Jersey named Oliver Brown was found dead of the same kind of wounds that 
killed the other three guys."
          "Was Brown..."
          "Yes. Brown moved to New Jersey earlier this year. Before that he 
was a member of the National Guard in New York." said Logan.
           Scully looked at the file with a certain measure of perplexity in 
her face. "Officer Logan, do you think you know what it is that links these 
crimes together?"
           "Think about it. Four members of the New York National Guard are 
found dead by weapons that resemble prison shanks. What major event happened 
not that long ago that would link these things together?" With that, it 
suddenly clicked for Danny.
       "The prison riot upstate." he said
        Logan looked at him with a certain measure of surprise and admiration 
in his face. "Exactly."
        Mulder and Scully looked blank.  Mulder spoke first. "I hate to say 
this but I don't think that I completely follow you." 
       Logan looked baffled as if he didn't realize how someone could not 
have understood what this was all about. Danny, however, thought he 
understood. Outside of the work, Mulder and Scully didn't pay a lot of 
attention to things that took place outside of the X-Files.  Danny decided to 
explain.
         "Two years ago at the Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary in 
Upstate New York, there was a riot in one of the units of the prison. The 
prisoners ceased control of the prison and they took hostages of the 
guards.The governor called in the National Guard to suppress the rioters and 
rather than negotiate with the prisoners, the governor told them to take the 
prison back by any means necessary."
          A look of comprehension was appearing on the faces of both Mulder 
and Scully. Apparently they weren't absolute strangers to the events of the 
world outside the basement. "The Guardsmen shot up the prison?" said Mulder
         "Yeah. They killed a bunch of prisoners and a few of the hostages." 
said Logan.  "There was a lot of controversy about whether or not it was 
necessary to use such excessive force."
          "I remember. Wasn't there a commission established to see whether 
the governor had been justified in using extreme methods to bring the riot to 
a conclusion?" said Scully.
          "That's right." said Danny. "And that commission found that no one 
was responsible for the riot. There was a lot of controversy about the 
committee's reaching that conclusion. A lot of people in high places were 
pissed off."
         "Maybe people in low places were upset too." said Scully.
         "What are you thinking?" asked Mulder.
         "Maybe a prisoner who was unhappy got released and went back into 
the general population pissed at how the system screwed him. Maybe he finds 
out the names of some of the people who went into the prison and decides to 
take revenge on those who were involved. A good prisoner might be able to 
break into their houses without leaving any sign. And he might have killed 
those men like that in order to send some kind of message"
         Mulder had a strange look on his face. Danny thought that it was one 
of dissatisfaction. "How would a criminal in a maximum security prisoner find 
out the names of those men who were in the National Guard at that time?"
        "All he'd need was a computer, Mulder." Logan had a look on his face 
that said that he had found a way to crack open the case.
         Danny wasn't too sure. He knew what he had seen in his vision. An 
invisible force had killed Harold Goergen and most likely killed the other 
three men. Could the crimes somehow be linked to the events at Oswald? He tho
ught that they were. But there was something supernatural about what had 
happened. He just wasn't sure what.  But he couldn't explain that without 
revealing his secrets. If it were just Mulder and Scully involved, he might 
have done so anyway, but with this other cop around he wasn't entirely 
comfortable revealing this to him as well.
       All he said was: "I think that Logan might be on the right track with 
his theory. I think we should look very closely into what happened at this 
prison. Let's call them up and see if we can find out if there is any 
prisoner released who might be capable of this."

 9:11 P.M.

    As Mike Logan dabbed at the last piece of chicken lo mein, he thought 
again that this was the first time in a long time that he had felt like being 
a cop. He thought that nearly four years of being a glorified patrolman in 
what was considered the dead zone of New York had killed all the urges that 
he had towards police work in general.
          But it turned out that the instinct of a detective that he had 
involuntarily let lie dormant for so long were actually still present and 
ready to go
           Take this afternoon. He hadn't really done any leg work. He had 
just done background checks on the names of fifteen prisoners that had been 
released from the Oswald Prison in the past month. Some had been hard at 
legitimate work trying to keep their parole boards convinced that they were 
capable of earning a decent living. Others had found real life so dull that 
they had decided to return to a life of crime. All, however, had alibis for 
last night and none had been within striking distance of New Jersey where 
Oliver Brown had met his end. 
           Mulder and Scully had done some background checks on the four 
murdered men. Though information on the riot was sketchy, they had learned 
that all four had been among the first ones to enter the unit after the riot 
had broken out. This did not distinguish them; according to the files almost 
one hundred troopers had gone into Oz. Information was scarce on where 
exactly Goergen, Thurman, Halleck and Brown had been when the shooting 
finished.
           None of this had proven anything on the murders. But just the 
feeling of doing real police work again had made him feel more alive then he 
had in God knows how long.
            He had reached the decision that he liked the federal agents that 
he was working with. Mulder still seemed a little out there and he didn't 
know if he could completely trust a man who thought the way that he did. 
Torrance, on the other hand, seemed to be a warm and genuine companionable 
person. He had treated Logan like an equal and he appreciated that. As for 
Scully, ---
well he thought that he was developing something of a crush on here. It had 
been a long time since he had met a woman who was a real deep thinker and who 
attracted him in anyway.  He had wanted to ask her if she wanted to get a cup 
of coffee or something, but he figured that it would be inappropriate at this 
point in the investigation. So he had asked Agent Torrance if the three of 
them would be willing to get some dinner in order for them to review what 
they had learned so far in the probe.So they had ordered from the one decent 
Chinese restaurant in Staten Island and had gotten to it.
        "All the criminals on the list that I got from Oz had an alibi for 
last night." said Torrance.
         Scully looked at him. "You're calling it that too?"
        "What do you mean?"
        "Everybody that I talked to calls the prison Oz."
        "So what's wrong with that?" Mulder added. "You know what they call 
the unit where the riot took place?" When Scully silently indicated that she 
did not know, he went on: "Emerald City."
          "Those prison officials have a screwed-up sense of humor." said 
Logan.
"Did you get anywhere talking to this guy Case?" Alvah Case had been the head 
of the commission that had led the inquiry after the riot.
           Mulder nodded. "Managed to speak with for about ten minutes. He 
didn't say much that wasn't in the report. He did say one thing that i
nterested me though."
          "What was that?"
           "He said that no one person was responsible for the riot, but if 
he was asked to evaluate blame that the Governor was as responsible for the 
riot as anyone in Oz."
           "Well, Mulder, I don't think that Alvah Case is an individual who 
has a lot of love for James Devlin. I mean he's expected to run against him 
in next years election."
        "Getting political on me, Scully?"
         Scully fixed him with a stare. Logan had seen her pull that trick on 
Mulder a few times. It usually meant that she was slightly irritated and 
mildly amused.
           "Hey Case may be a politician but his word should count for 
something. The man has a reputation for integrity." Logan said.
          Mulder turned to him. "You don't think that much of the Governor, 
do you?"
         "The guys a grubby little worm. He's been involved in scandals since 
he got into office. Financial problems, questions about his integrity, his 
wife has left.  He keeps focusing his attention on crime in order to distract 
people from what's happening up at the office. "
          "I guess that was both barrels.' said Torrance with a touch of 
admiration.
           Logan shrugged his shoulders. "We're getting off the topic. Did 
you get anywhere trailing the list of criminals that you got?"
          Torrance shook his head. "If a criminal has been committing these 
murders, he hasn't been one of those released. Besides none of the fine 
outstanding citizens that the people at Oz have let out have ever been 
involved in really violent crimes."
          "That doesn't mean that they couldn't have graduated to murder."
           "Two of them did. They are currently on trial for violent 
felonies." Torrance paused. "Besides, I think that we might be on the wrong 
track looking for a fugitive from Oz is somehow responsible for these deaths."
            "You' re not going to go back on this invisible force kick, are 
you?"
            "I just think that we should keep our minds open and not rule out 
anything until we can prove or disprove it." said Agent Torrance. Mulder 
nodded his head in agreement. Logan looked at Scully very carefully. She 
hesitated for a long moment before responding
           "I think that we have carried this investigation a s far as we can 
by logical means. We may have to consider some---" she paused "extreme 
possibilities if we want to solve this case."
          "I agree." said Mulder. "I believe we have to carry this 
investigation to the next level if we are going to solve it."
          "And what is the next level?" said Logan, though he thought that he 
knew.
          "About an hour ago I spoke to Leo Glynn, the warden at Oswald. "
          "What did you tell him?" said Torrance curiously.
          "That we suspected that some element from his prison may be 
responsible for a series of deaths." He paused noticing the looks that he was 
getting from both his partners. "No I didn't mention invisible forces 
attacking people, if that's what you wanted to know. I'm saving that little 
tidbit for when we see him tomorrow."
           "He agreed to let us investigate?"
          "He wasn't what I would call thrilled about it, but he said that he 
and his entire staff would we willing to aid us in our inquiry. He's 
expecting to see us tomorrow at 3:00." 
             Logan took in this news with a certain amount of equilibrium.He 
knew that eventually he was going to be left behind on this investigation and 
had tried to prepare himself for it but it still stung. It therefore came as 
something of a surprise to him when Torrance turned to him.
            "Would you like to come with us, Officer Logan?" He wasn't alone 
in his shock. Mulder and Scully both turned and faced him as if he had lost 
his mind. Torrance ignored them and continued. "This is your case as much as 
is it ours. We probably wouldn't have been able to connect these murders to 
Oz if you hadn't helped us. Besides, we're going to need all the help that we 
can get investigating up there."
           If Logan had been more dictated by his emotions , he would have 
impulsively embraced Torrance. However, he was calmly able to say: "I'll have 
to clear it with my lieutenant first. "
          "Go ahead. We'll have to clear it with our boss, but I don't 
imagine that it will be that big a deal."
          Logan got up and walked towards the office of his lieutenant. That 
feeling of excitement was back with a burst. He practically felt like he was 
floating.

           "You had no right to do that." Mulder told Danny as soon as Logan 
left the room.
            "What do you mean I had no right? I know the way that you 
operate, Mulder.  You would have just left him behind without a word of 
information about the case. He carries a badge, and what's more without him 
we'd still be spinning our wheels on this."
           "That's not the point."said Mulder still indignant.
            "Then just what is the point? " Danny knew that he had Mulder 
when he had to hesitate in order before coming up with a response.
           "The point is that you are a junior agent on the X-Files. A 
decision involving personnel should have been cleared with us first." Mulder 
was reaching and he knew it. Scully fixed him with one of her looks. 
             "Well then I'm sorry for going over your head. But the fact is 
that Oswald is the biggest prison in the state. The three of us could be up 
there for days before we find whoever is responsible. And you know how 
reluctant the brass is to give us extra help on the X-Files. We are going to 
need all the assistance that we can get." 
          Scully then took advantage of Mulder's pause to add. "He's right. 
We owe Logan more than a phone call when all this plays out."
         "You're not gonna get into a pissing contest with me over this?" 
Danny said with a smile. Finally Mulder smiled back. 
         "All right. But you have to clear it with Skinner and that guys 
lieutenant."
         Danny smiled as he took out his cell phone.
         "Relax this case is just starting to become interesting."
            
OSWALD STATE CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
10:35 A.M.

            "Leo, I can't believe that you went along with this shit!"
           The large black man sitting at the head of the table resisted the 
temptation to sigh. His job as the warden of the largest prison facility made 
his life difficult under normal circumstances.  That would be OK except there 
never seemed to be any indication that normal circumstances were ever going 
to exist at Oz. He always seemed to be involved in one crisis after another. 
If it wasn't the Aryans up in arms against the Muslims, it would be the 
Italians against the Gangstas, or the Hispanics against the Italians, or it 
Irish against the Christians, or anyone of a hundred different permutations 
that all led to the same end product: Trouble. And when trouble came to Oz, 
the end results were usually violence and death.
              Leo Glynn didn't want to complain.Compared to the series of 
violent actions that had ultimately climaxed in the riot two years ago, 
things at Oz had been relatively peaceful. True, Oz still did a big trade in 
narcotics, or tits as the inmates called it and occasionally the Muslims and 
the Aryans would make eyeballs at each other in the cafeteria, but otherwise 
things were relatively calm. But he didn't fool himself into thinking that 
everything was hunky-dory. He knew that Oz was a powder keg of violence, just 
waiting for someone to throw a match into it.
          These feds, for example. Leo knew that there was a big potential 
for nastiness if the crimes that Agent Mulder had described to him did have 
any relationship to someone behind the walls of Oz. Perhaps he should have 
talked with Governor Devlin before letting the FBI getting involved in the 
matter. But in the end he had decided to let them investigate, in part 
because he had decided after the riot not to let any possibility of violence 
have the slightest chance of escalating .
          "Tim, I know that you aren't thrilled with having the feds 
investigate. But I would think that you would want to make sure that nothing 
untoward is going on in Em City."
        "Untoward? Are those your words or theirs?"
          This time Leo did sigh. He had been working with Tim McManus at 
Emerald City for about three years.At first their relationship had been 
amicable if not entirely friendly, but he had thought that it had improved 
when he had pushed hard to have Em City reopened after the Governor had 
fought so hard to keep it closed down.Evidently Glynn still had to prove 
something to him.
          "I finally think that I might be close to restoring some kind of 
order and these Feds could fuck the whole thing up. Besides, you know that 
the Governor is looking for any excuse that he can find in order to shut Em 
City down" Leo was about to respond when another voice piped up. "
           "I think that Tim is right." Diane Wittlesey, the head security 
officer of Em City. "The situation is fragile at best. You remember what 
happened last time the Feds were here. They turned a bad situation into a 
worse one. We don't need any more trouble."
          Leo was a little surprised that Wittlesey was taking Tim's side. 
But then he had long since given up trying to understand the relationship 
that the two of them had.He wondered idly if the two had started sleeping 
together again. It would explain why Tim had asked to have her reassigned 
back to Em City after asking her to leave three months earlier. He closed his 
mind off to that possibility--- at least for now.
          "Look, I know that nobody is thrilled that the Feds are coming 
here. But if we just let them ask there questions quickly and neatly, we can 
get rid of them faster.  Could we move on?"
          McManus looked stubborn for a moment. Then he looked across the 
table at Wittlesey. They seemed to do more then just exchange glances. There 
seemed to be an entire conversation hidden behind it. Leo knew that he could 
fathom it if he wanted too, but he knew that there were some lines that you 
should not cross.
           "All right. But they meet with the staff and they get our per
mission before they talk to any of the prisoners."
        "All right."
       "And you have to tell the prisoners that they're coming."
        "Fine. " He sighed silently. A headache was forming behind his 
eyes.It was a sensation that he was familiar with since coming to work here. 
This was going to be a great day.

         "So why did you insist on separate cars, Agent Torrance?" 
         Danny turned around and faced Officer Logan in surprise. He had been 
quiet first on the ferry ride back to Manhattan and then on the drive upstate 
(It was more than an hour and a half ride up to Oswald from Manhattan) At 
first he had asked him a few questions about the case, but then he had fallen 
silent. He wasn't entirely sure why he had requisitioned a second car; 
Skinner would probably mad as hell to see that he had added another expense 
to their report.  All he had known was that he had thought that it might be 
best for everyone if Mulder and Scully rode up to Oz in one car and he rode 
up with Officer Logan 
           "My partners have a complicated thought process. For some reason 
it generally works better if the two of them are just able to sit together 
for an extended period of time. I thought that it might be better for the 
case if they were allowed to work together."
          All Logan said to that was: "I see" They drove in silence for about 
a minute before Logan spoke up again. "You know, smoking's a real bad habit."
          Danny looked down at his hand in surprise. He wasn't quite sure how 
the cigarette had gotten there. Oh, he had known that there was a pack of 
Marlboros in his jacket pocket, but he had not intended to actually smoke 
them. He was going to quit this time. Really.
        "I'm sorry is it bothering you, Officer?"
         "No actually. I was going to ask you for one."
         "Oh, sure." He reached for the pack and handed one to him. Logan 
only took his eyes off the road ahead of them for a moment as he took and lit 
the cigarette.
           "So these X-Files, how long have they been open?"
            Danny thought for a moment. "They have been open on and off for 
about six years, I think."
           "SO you're telling me that you and Mulder and Scully have been 
running around across country chasing ghosts and little green men for six 
years?" said Logan incredulously.
           "Gray."
          "Excuse me?"
          "Little gray men. I once made a joke about it; they told me that 
the aliens they investigate are gray. "
          Logan looked at him for a moment. "You're kidding."
          "Well, I haven't seen any aliens so I couldn't tell you what color 
they were."
         "You've been working for six years and you haven't seen an alien?"
          "Well, I've only been working there for two months. Mulder and 
Scully have seen a lot more than I have."
          "And the government really pays you to chase after 
these---paranormal events."
            "Look, I know that are methods may seem odd to you, but I can 
assure you that I have already seen some strange things in the short while 
that I've worked there."
          "So do you really think that it's possible for a ghost or something 
to have killed four people?"
          Danny shook his head. "I can tell you with all honesty that I 
really don't know what the fuck happened to them, but I think that your 
theory that it has something to do with the riot up at Oswald. I just don't 
know what."
          "Well, I'm sure that the supernatural must be fascinating work, but 
I'll take a good old fashioned homicide over one of these mystical events."
          Danny smiled at him strangely. "I say something funny?"
         "No, its just that you seem unnaturally enthusiastic to get called 
on for a typical homicide."
          Logan suddenly seemed to shrink a little. "Well, its just that I 
don't get to see all that many murders out -- where I work."
           "How long have you worked at Staten Island?"
           "Four years."
           "You've only been a policeman for that long?"
           "No, I've been in the NYPD for almost thirteen years." Suddenly 
Danny made a connection in his head about Logan.
           "Who did you piss off to get stuck on this detail?"
           "It's a long story and we're almost to Oz." They weren't but Danny 
thought that it would be unwise to press Logan on how he got here.
            "OK, I'll make you a deal . Once we solve this case, I'll buy you 
a drink and I'll tell you all about the X-Files if you tell me how you got 
stuck walking a beat in Staten Island."
          Logan only paused for a moment.'That's a deal."
          They rode in a comfortable silence for about a minute. "That's odd."
said Logan suddenly.
            "What?"
             "The prison was called the Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary."
             "Yeah?"
              "Take a look at that sign."
               Danny looked out the window. There was a sign for Oswald up 
ahead. Only this sign read: "Oswald State Correctional Facility: Level Four."
For some reason, this struck Danny with an ominous shiver.
               "I guess that this is political correctness gone amok." said 
Logan
              "Maybe."
             Logan looked at the pensive agent. "What do you think about it?"
             "Maybe it's truth in advertising"
             "Excuse me?"
             "Maybe by getting rid of the word penitentiary there implying 
that.... That nobody's penitent. Nobody's sorry."
              Logan thought it over. "You sure think a lot of deep thoughts, 
Agent Torrance."
              "Danny.." he said without really thinking. For some reason the 
sign troubled him He thought that it was a bad omen.
END OF PART ONE

Part Two

3:15 P.M.
OFFICE OF WARDEN LEO GLYNN

          Fox Mulder had honestly had no idea what he had been getting into 
when he had agreed to help Skinner with the series of murders that had 
involved the National Guard. He wasn't even entirely sure why the A.D. Had 
been so insistent that they investigate these deaths.Normally he would have 
just written up a profile based on the little information that they had. But 
after the third homicide, he had decided that things had reached a point 
where an investigation was warranted
           Since then things had been going downhill. First there was the 
presence of Officer Logan. Mulder understood the need to work with local law 
enforcement, but that didn't mean that he had to like it. At first he had 
thought that Logan would be another colorless addition to the countless 
number of policemen who had been involved in the X-Files. He had not been 
happy when Logan had made the deductive leap that had led them to Oz He 
assumed part of it was a petty jealousy ---- he was supposed to be the top 
notch profiler, but part of him thought that Logan would somehow use the case 
to boost his own standing in the precinct. It hadn't helped that Agent 
Torrance had taken to Logan so quickly.
            He hadn't been exactly thrilled to learn the that they were 
involving themselves in another investigation which had a great deal of 
possibility for controversy. The prison riot and the subsequent inquiry had 
created a huge amount of political controversy. The idea that he might be 
working to aid the governor in some perverse way did not appeal to him.
           All in all, he had come to Oz with something of a chip on his 
shoulder.He tried to restrain it as the attractive blond woman--- apparently 
Glynn's secretary---- told them that the Warden would see them in a moment.
         "What do you intend to tell Glynn ?" Ever since Torrance had joined 
the X-Files had been persistent in insisting that they be as honest as 
possible in informing authorities about the exact nature of their work 
despite the possibility that it might lead to utter humiliation.
            "The truth as we know it." 
              Scully apparently didn't like that. She was about to say 
something to that effect to Mulder when the secretary interrupted. "The 
warden will see you now."
         Mulder turned to Scully and the four of them walked into the office. 
There they were somewhat surprised to be greeted by not one but two men. The 
one behind the desk was a medium sized black man with dark hair and a 
mustache. The other one was standing, a medium sized man with a balding 
forehead and a short cropped beard. He did not seem particularly happy to be 
there.
           "Agent Mulder. We talked on the phone. " He offered his hand to 
Mulder and shook it. Mulder noted that Glynn had a strong grip. "This is Tim 
McManus the unit manager of Emerald City"
            "These are my partners Dana Scully and Daniel Torrance." he said. 
And this is Officer Mike Logan of the Staten Island Police Department ."
           "Pleas have a seat." Scully and Torrance did; Mulder and Logan for 
some reason did not.
           "You told me want you were looking into when we spoke but I was 
hoping that you could possibly go into greater detail." Mulder nodded and 
took out the files.
            "Over the past two weeks four men were brutally murdered . They 
were all brutally stabbed with a weapon that has been identified as 
resembling a prison shank. All four men were at one point members of the New 
York National Guard. More specifically all four went into Emerald City to 
suppress the riot two years."
          Glynn looked at the photographs of Goergen and Halleck without so 
much as flinching. Mulder wasn't surprised. The warden must have frequently 
been a witness to such brutal crimes frequently "And you believe that someone 
in Oz is responsible for these deaths?"
            "That is the assumption that we are making. "said Scully.
            McManus spoke for the first time. "Why?" The tone seemed to be 
neutral but Mulder could sense the hostility that was lurking just below the 
surface.
           "I'm sorry."
           "Well is there anything that you have found in your investigation 
to link these murders to anybody in Oz?"
            Because Mulder was such an expert at moderating his emotions he 
did not appear to be at all disturbed by McManus' question. Inwardly however, 
he was beginning to squirm. He could tell that McManus didn't care for him 
and it wasn't going to improve his mood when he told him exactly what he 
expected had happened to these men. He plunged ahead.
           "We do not have any physical evidence linking these murders to 
anyone in this prison." Mulder started slowly "But it is our belief that 
someone in this prison has decided to take revenge upon the people."
          "You think a former inmate might somehow be taking revenge."
           Mulder shook his head. At first we thought that it might have been 
a possibility. But we ran down all the inmates who have been released in the 
past year and they all have airtight alibis."
           "So you think that someone in Oz is somehow ordering the murders."
           Mulder nodded. Here came the hard part. "Or possibly committing 
the murders themselves."
            For the first time Glynn and McManus exchanged a look. Mulder 
knew that look. Knew it all to well. It was the expression of two people 
considering the possibility that the person they have been talking to might 
well have taken leave of his senses.
           "Would you mind explaining that again?" said Glynn
    "Yeah, Mulder, explain. " That prick Logan wasn't helping. At this point 
Torrance decided to lend a hand.
           "There are several inconsistencies with the deaths of these men. 
There is no noticeable point of entry.There are no signs of a struggle, no 
defensive wounds. We believe that somehow the killer or killers is using 
certain methods to murder these men."
           McManus nodded. "And what methods are these?"
           "It is possible" said Mulder slowly."that the killer is capable of 
transporting himself from Oz to the site of these murders."
           "I see. And how exactly did they do this? They beamed themselves 
there like Doctor Fucking Spock?"
           "Tim, there's no need for that...."
           "I'm sorry Leo, but this is bullshit. Look." he said turning 
towards them. "The people in Oz are bad men . I know it. That's why they're 
in here. In here. If they could get out don't you think that they would 
teleport the fuck out?"
            "Tim." Glynn's voice contained a certain level of warning. "I 
must say that I'm inclined to agree with Tim. I think we'd know if a prisoner 
heard started teleporting out of his cell. We do keep a pretty close eye on 
them."
           Mulder slumped inwardly. He had lost them. He had known that it 
was risky explaining his theories to unbelievers (which he had to admit 
included most of people) He didn't know how he was going to recover from this 
blow. Then Scully saved him again.
         "Warden Glynn, I know that this may seem odd to you.But my partners 
and myself have investigated several cases in which the criminal was able to 
either disappear from enclosed areas. '
         "You're not being serious are you?" said McManus still incredulous.
         "I believe that it is far more likely that a prisoner in Oz is 
somehow passing on messages to someone on the outside. Do you think that it 
is possible?"
           Glynn looked at her, then nodded. "It's possible. We try to 
monitor all calls that are made outside the prison, but we can't keep track 
of them all. "
          Torrance spoke up."I think that whether the methods of death are 
supernaturally based or more grounded in reality that we need to carefully 
investigate the prisoners in Oz."
          "You are welcome to do that. But Oz is the largest correctional 
facility in the state. Do you really intend to investigate every prisoner 
here?"
          Mulder spoke up attempting to recover his role as leader. "I think 
that we should limit it to prisoner who were in Emerald City at the time of 
the riot.  As well as any new prisoners who have entered Em city who may have 
known someone from the riot.That should cut down the number fairly 
drastically."
            "We're also going to need to interview your staff in order to get 
a background on the prisoners." 
           "I've already spoken to them. They'll give you all the help that 
you need. " said Glynn.
        "Yeah, I'll get you the files." said McManus.
        "Tim, I can have Gwen..."
         "No , Leo." McManus walked to the door. "I feel like taking a walk." 
He left the room.
          "I'm sorry about..."
        "It's OK. I'd feel a little territorial too." said Torrance.
         'Is there anything else that I can help you with?"
         "Yeah." Logan spoke up for the first time.  "When the riot broke out 
two years ago, who were the major leaders of it?"
         "Any particular reason you want that information?"
         "If a prisoner at Oz really is responsible,It's more likely that one 
of them could inspire enough loyalty to convince another prisoner to kill for 
them."
           Glynn thought for a moment. "Well there were five men who actually 
were considered the leaders of the riot.. Kareem Said was the main leader..."
         "You mean the author and black leader?" spoke up Torrance. Glynn 
nodded and continued.
         "Then there was Scott Ross, Simon Adebisi, Miguel Alvarez and Ryan 
O'Reilly. Those were the main five."
        "Did you say Ryan O' Reilly? " said Logan. Mulder looked towards him. 
The policeman had paled slightly.
          "Yes, why?"
          "Nothing." said Logan quickly. "Are these men still in Em City?"
          "Said and O'Reilly are. "
         "What about the others?"
         "Ross was killed during the riot. Alvarez has been transferred to 
solitary for attacking a CO. Adebisi is in the psychiatric ward. He had some 
kind of mental breakdown six months ago"
         "That makes it less likely that one of them gave the order. Still we 
should probably talk to both of them." said Mulder
          "Are you going to want to speak to them now?"
          "I think that it would be best if we spoke to your staff first. " 
said Logan. Mulder looked at him sharply but he went on anyway. "Could you 
give us..."
          "I had my secretary make a couple of lists before you came here."
           "Thanks for your help."

           As they walked out of the wardens office,   Mulder turned to 
Logan. "What gives you the right to tell us how to run our investigation?"
          "Yeah, I wouldn't want to do that ,seeing as you're doing such a 
bang up job. I'm amazed that Glynn didn't run us out of his office right then 
and there."
       "Even so, we are in charge. You're just coming along for the ride, 
Officer Logan."
         Scully made a move to separate them, but Torrance got there first. 
"Listen if you two want to step outside and settle this, go ahead . WE don't 
have time to get into a contest to see whose is bigger."Mulder and Logan 
glared at each other for a long moment. Finally Logan broke the tension by 
looking away. He said nothing to Mulder
       Torrance then turned to Mulder. "How do you want to handle this?"
For a long moment Mulder also said nothing. At least he turned to Scully.
"Give me the list." Scully handed it to him without speaking. There was 
another long pause while Mulder studied the list..
          "I think I'll start by interviewing Peter Marie Remondo, the prison 
psychologist. Maybe she can give me some insight as to who among the 
prisoners might hold some kind of grudge against the staff." He handed the 
list to Scully. She looked at the list. 
           "Scully, why don't you interview Gloria Nathan, the prison doctor?"
 She looked up at Mulder in surprise. 
          "Any particular reason you want me to talk to her?"
          "See if you can find out if any prisoners have been exhibiting any 
strange medical conditions recently."
           "What exactly am I looking for ?" Mulder favored her with one of 
his mysterious  smiles. 
          "I think that you'll know it when you see it." 
          Torrance took the list from her and handed it to Logan. After a 
moment, he handed it back to him.
          "I think that I'll talk to the people in charge of Emerald 
City:McManus and Diane Wittlesey?"
         "Any particular reason?"
         "Yeah, I think that you guys ruffled him with that science fiction 
talk. I think they will be more willing to talk to someone like me."
          "You mean somebody who isn't certifiable?' Mulder couldn't resist. 
Before Logan could respond to that, Torrance interrupted them. "I'll talk to 
the chaplain, Father Mukada. According to the commission he was in Em City 
when the riot went down. Maybe he has an understanding as to what happened 
and who might have a desire for vengeance."
          Mulder looked at his watch. "It's 3:45. Lets meet back at the front 
gate around six. By then they'll probably have assembled a list of the 
prisoners together then. That all right with you, Logan?"
         Logan nodded. "That will be fine."
         As they separated, Mulder wondered for a second just what it was 
about the prisoners that had unsettled Logan so. He hoped that it was nothing 
serious. Mulder had always had this image in his head of what nuns should 
look like.Not being a Catholic he had always based his images on 
television.This led to his belief that all nuns should resemble a cross 
between Julie Andrews in The Sound Of Music and Sally Field in The Flying 
Nun.---cheerful and upbeat. Since he knew that they weren't anything like 
that, he figured that most of them were like the Mother Superior, looking 
old, stiff and cheerless. 
           None of these cliched images could have prepared him for Sister 
Peter Marie Remondo. About all that she had in common with those nuns was 
that she was old--- in her mid-sixties according to Mulder's best guess. She 
did not seem old,however. Her hair was mostly salt-and-pepper, her eyes were 
vibrant and alive, and her face appeared cheerful. Nor did she wear the black 
and white habit that Mulder associated with most nuns. Instead she wore a 
pantsuit with a grey sweater. The only indication that she was a nun at all 
was the large crucifix that was on the wall of her office. Cheerfully she 
welcomed Mulder into her office.
          "So you're the FBI agent that was raising such a fuss." Mulder 
found himself wanting to blush.
         "Well, I do tend to cause something of a cirrus when I get called in 
on a case." he said cheerfully shaking her hand
          "I'm willing to whatever I can to help the authorities." she said 
with a smile.
           "Then we shouldn't have a problem." said Mulder.
           The smile faded. "Well we might have one at that." Suddenly Mulder 
had one of those flashes of insight that had made him such a great profiler. 
She wasn't just going to bend over and help Mulder find out exactly what she 
wanted to know. She had convictions towards justice but she also sternly 
believed in helping these prisoners. She wasn't going to give him any more 
help than she would give on her own terms. 
         "I am willing to help you but I'm not going to violate my 
patient-doctor privilege. Nor am I going to reveal any kind of information 
that prisoners may have confided in me as my capacity as a nun."
         "Mother----uh Sister?'
          She relented. "You can call me Pete."
          "OK but that's going to sound even odder." he said with the trace 
of a smile. "I'm a psychologist, too. I know the rules of doctor patient 
confidentiality. And I know that they don't apply when you learn that your 
patient has revealed that he is going to hurt somebody"
          "I'm aware of that. And if somebody said that they were planning to 
kill those men, I would have told Warden Glynn right away."
        "OK, have any prisoners expressed hostility about the events that 
happened in the riot?"
         Sister Pete thought for a moment "You have to understand. I believe 
that the riot broke out in Emerald City because there was too much emotion 
running around unchecked. When you take away mens freedoms one after the 
other---the hostility just gets greater and greater until eventually it 
explodes. "
        "So you think that the riot was just a natural progression?"
        "You're misunderstanding me. There is no excuse for violence. But 
these men were violent on the outside. I do my best to try and rehabilitate 
and reform them . When I try to help them, I try to convince them to let go 
of their anger. And that's not easy for me who have spent their entire lives 
with this kind of tension built up inside them."
         "Sister Pete..."
         "I'm trying to answer your question. After the riot I held 
psychiatric meetings with both inmates and staff, trying to convince them to 
let go of the hatred that they had.  It was not very easy. The inmates were 
-- and still angry because they had they had finally inspired feelings of 
fear and respect. The CO's were angry because they had lost their ability to 
command respect. The situation was very bad.  I'd like to think it has 
improved over the past year, but..." She shook her head. "They say that time 
heals all wounds, Agent Mulder. They lie. It only works on some of them. With 
the rest of them the wounds fester and inflame until they drive men to 
violent action. "
         "Do you think that a prisoner might have been capable of plotting 
events of this magnitude?"
           Sister Pete paused.  "In those interaction sessions that I talked 
to you about, I don't believe that these inmates would be capable of these 
murders. Some of them want revenge, but most of them just would focus anger 
on CO's. If certain guards were being murdered I'd believe that a prisoner 
was behind it without question. But to execute this kind of long distance 
planning on complete strangers, I don't know of any one whose capable of 
that."
         Mulder sighed. "What about the leaders of the riot? Are they capable 
of such things."
         "You mean men like Kareem Said."
          Mulder nodded. "I've read his books. He seems like a man capable of 
inciting people to violence."
          "I know Said pretty well. He believes that the system of justice is 
flawed and perverted. He might be capable of inciting a prisoner to violent 
action."
        "But you don't think so."
         "Said went through some kind of change after the riot.  He now seems 
determined to use the law to show that he is right and the world is wrong."
        "You believe that he wouldn't incite any kind of violence?"
          Sister Pete shook her head again. "No. The man has come through 
some sort of change. Last year, he refused to take a pardon from Governor 
Devlin because he considered the man corrupt."
       "  All right what about the other leaders?"
         "Well, Alvarez is in solitary and even before then he went through a 
falling out with the Hispanics. I don't think he has much influence on 
anybody . Simon went through some kind of breakdown after someone that he 
befriended died. He lost a lot of power there. As for Ryan O'Reilly, his 
brother got sent to Oz earlier this year and he has spent most of his time 
taking care of him."
        " What about Scott Ross?"
         "He's dead, Agent Mulder.'
         "I know that. Was there anyone who knew Scott Ross? Someone who 
might care about his death?"
          Sister Pete hesitated. "He was friendly with the Aryans and the 
bikers so maybe one of them might have been angry enough."
          "But you don't think so?"
         "The Aryans have a code, Agent Mulder. They only kill someone who 
offends that code. Beside they no better than to attack ---someone outside of 
Oz." 
         Sister Pete was hesitating. She knew something about Ross' death 
that she wasn't telling 
       "I'd like to have a look at the files of some of the Aryans and the 
Bikers."
        For a moment, Sister Pete looked like she was going to refuse him. 
Then she thought better and went to her filing cabinet. Mulder thought that 
he might have stumbled on to something.

PRISON INFIRMARY
4:17 P.M.

        Scully had not liked that she had  to come to Oz.  She had not been 
happy when early in her career in the X-Files, she had  to enter the prison 
where Luther Lee Boggs had been about to go to gas chamber. Part of it had 
been a feeling of unsettledness that she had felt with the death of her 
father and Boggs apparent ability to communicate with the dead. Ever since 
then she had intensely disliked being in prisons. Since she had realized that 
this was not a constructive attitude to take if she wanted to hold on to a 
position in the criminal justice system, she had managed to adopt an attitude 
of neutrality whenever she had been forced to come in one.
         She was therefore somewhat surprise to find how comfortable that she 
was in the infirmary of Oz. Part of it was being in an area which was under 
direct medical supervision. Seeing doctors and nurses at work was an immense 
comfort to her. She could almost forget that there were armed guards standing 
not that far away.
        A tall Latino woman with black hair approached her. "May I help you?"
        "Dr. Gloria Nathan?" The woman nodded. "I'm Special Agent Dana 
Scully. I was hoping that we could have a few minutes to talk"
        Dr. Nathan made a motion towards the hospital beds. "I'm fairly busy 
at the moment."
         "Well perhaps I could help. I'm a doctor" Scully didn't know why she 
had volunteered that particular information. For some reason she wasn't 
particularly eager to help these men on the road to recovery. 
           Dr. Nathan looked at her for a second and seemed to reach some 
decision in her head. "If you'd be willing to talk while I do my work..."
          "Of course. " Dr. Nathan walked towards the hospital bed. "Why are 
you here?"
           Now came the hard part.. How do you tell a relative stranger the 
weird theories of your partner and still maintain her respect. For nearly six 
years she had been negotiate this choppy terrain, but it was never easy. Best 
to just plunge ahead.
           "You know that we are investigating a series of murders."
           "And you think that someone from Oz is somehow involved. " 
finished Dr. Nathan. She gave a sigh which contained  the presence of 
something that Scully couldn't quite understand. "Look, I know all too well 
how dangerous the people in this prison can be. If you came to ask me how 
capable these prisoners are of those murders, I'd say that they all have the 
capability. Other than that I don't know what help I can be to you. " She 
walked towards a man who was lying in a bed with casts around his arms and 
legs. Her mood changed and she became a little gentler. "Tobias, its time for 
your medication." The man stirred and opened his mouth. Gently, Dr. Nathan 
counted out some pills and poured him a glass of water. Very carefully she 
put them inside his mouth.
         Scully watched with a certain amount of compassion.  When Dr. Nathan 
looked up, she asked: "What happened to him?"
          "Six months ago, some sick fuck took him into the rec room and 
broke his arms and legs." she  responded.
         "Do you have any idea who did this to him?"
         "He claims that he has forgotten who did this to him."
         "Do you believe him?"
         Dr. Nathan shook her head. "No one ever tells on anybody. Goddamn 
code of silence."
          Scully took the opportunity. "Over the past few weeks have any 
prisoners come in with some illnesses that you couldn't classify?
          The doctor thought for a moment "Now that you mention it, a few 
days a go a prisoner was found unconscious in his cell.When they brought him 
her they ran a few tests including a CAT scan and an EEG and they found that 
the was experiencing heightened brain wave activity. But we couldn't find any 
explanation as to why this happened.
           "Who was this prisoner?"
           Dr. Nathan looked over the charts."George Novak. No previous 
record of any unusual brain activity.
           "May I see his chart?" The doctor hesitated then handed it to her. 
"Have there been any similar cases?"
        "Well, if you wAnt to you can look at some of the old charts. But 
there are quite a few of them.."
        Scully favored her with a smile. "Well, I've got some time."

CHAPLAINS OFFICE
4:35 P.M.

       One of the benefits of Danny's "gift' was that it enabled him to see 
beneath the veneers of politeness that people put up and allowed him to get 
an insight as to whether people were essentially good or essentially bad. He 
had gotten a good read of Officer Logan and that had led to his sudden liking 
to him. 
       He had not gotten any kind of read of Father Ray Mukada, the prison 
chaplain., but he thought that he liked him, in part because he was not the 
picture of the typical priest. Part of it was that he was young (Danny 
thought that he was in his late thirties), partly that he was Oriental   and 
partly because when he entered his office he found that the priest was 
smoking a cigarette. Unlike Mulder and Scully who seemed to have a great 
measure of disgust towards people who smoked, Danny found that he trusted 
people who smoked---it made them seem more human. 
        To try and relax the priest he took out his pack and asked him for a 
light. Mukada seemed to relax a little bit and some of the tension went out 
of the room.
         "What shall I call you? Father Mukada? Father Ray? Do you have a 
preference?" 
           "Just Ray will do. Have a seat, Agent Torrance."
          "Thank you and its Danny.'
           "OK Danny." He sat down.
          "The warden said that you have some questions to ask about these 
murders. I'm more then willing to help you but I'm not sure what assistance I 
can provide you with."
          "Well, I would imagine as a spiritual leader of sort, you would be 
proxy to certain information."
          Mukada smiled. It was not a very content one.
        "Did I say something funny?"
          "Yeah. Only I'm the joke. When you called me a spiritual leader, 
that was the first time that anyone hear at Oz has referred to me as one. 
Kareem Said he's more of a spiritual leader than I am"
           "I don't know that much about Said,but from what I can gather from 
the reports on him, the man gets his power from militant behavior and 
attacking the establishment. "
         "Maybe, but he seems to have a better relationship with the Muslims 
than I have with the Catholics. They seem willing to trust him while most of 
the inmates here think that I'm nothing but a hack in black."
         "It can't be that bad." For the first time Danny's mind wasn't 
entirely on the case. For some reason it seemed important that he reassure 
this man that he did matter.
         Mukada looked at Danny as if he was remembering something painful.
  "I was in Em City when the riot broke out. I watched as a man that I 
thought I had a relationship with let me get beat up and then became the head 
of the riots forces.  That's how much power I have." He sighed for a moment 
and then went on. "Anyway, you didn't come here listen to my problems. What 
is it that you want to know?"
           Danny remembered what was going and spoke. "I know that its 
difficult given your relationship with the prisoners, but can you tell me 
whether or not you think that any of the prisoners might still be feeling 
anger about the riots."
       Mukada thought for a moment. "With the prisoners in Oz people can only 
deal with things in the here and now. They are so concerned with the short 
view they don't care about things that happen in the past."
        "SO you think that the prisoners are over the riot?"
         "Just because they care about the present doesn't mean that they for
get the past. Prisoners have a long memory, Agent Torrance. And in Oz,grudges 
can be held for a very long time."
        "Do you know of any inmate who might he capable of holding a grudge 
like that?
         Mukada thought again. "After the riot, there were a few prisoners 
who came to me saying that they felt upset at the way that the riot was 
handled He said something like somehow they will pay for this."
        "Did you tell the warden about this?": asked Danny.
        "I'm trying to get rid of the reputation that I'm just a hack in 
black. I keep certain confidences."
        "Can you tell me which prisoner mentioned it?" Mukada hesitated. "It 
would be a big help.
         "The only man I know who held a grudge who spoke about it to me was 
a biker named George Novak."
        "Was he in Em City during the riot?"
         "No, he only came to Oz a year ago."
         "Then why was he so upset."
         "His brother was in Em City. Apparently he was one of the first 
prisoners killed when the soldiers came in."

EMERALD  CITY
 4:55 P.M.

         From the office of Tim McManus, Mike Logan looked down at Emerald 
City.  He could see how significantly different this unit was from the rest 
of the prison Instead of being held behind bars, the prisoner were held 
behind double thick glass doors He could that they were electronically sealed 
by a control panel Most of the prisoners were watching television, a few were 
playing checkers some were playing cards. Everything seemed calm and orderly. 
But Logan knew that it wouldn't take much to turn the orderly calm into an 
explosion of anger.
           "You run a very tight ship. " he said turning to McManus. The 
program director---or whatever the fuck he was----- gave a tense nod. He 
seemed to have calmed down a little since his angry exit from Glynn's office 
but Logan could tell that he had a chip on his shoulder.
          "The prisoners in Emerald City are kept on a pretty tight leash. WE 
managed to keep order here.'
          "So I suppose that there is no drug problem in Em City." A look at 
McManus and he could tell that he struck a nerve. "And I supposed that there 
is no traffic in contraband."
          "I'm not saying that we don't have our problems with illegal 
activities but we keep a tighter leash on prisoners here then we do in other 
units. In exchange, prisoner receive a greater amount of freedom."
           "McManus, I'm not with the governor's office. You don't have to 
sell me on the productivity of Emerald City . I don't care how the prisoners 
in this unit are treated. What I'm trying to find out is if any of them are 
capable of being behind these murders.'
          McManus looked at r Logan. "You're not telling me that you believe 
that bullshit story that those FBI agents are telling."
         "If you mean that bit about killers who have the power to turn 
invisible, then my answer is no. But if your asking me whether or not I think 
that a prisoner is responsible for these deaths, then I would have to say 
Yes."
        "And how exactly do you reach that conclusion? How would they be 
getting the word out? Passenger pigeon. We monitor all the calls that the 
inmates make. If they tried to get word out, we'd know about it"
         "Yeah because no one says shit in Em City without you knowing about
it.."        
         "Look our system isn't perfect...."
         "Let me make it simple. Do you think that its possible that someone 
in Emerald City could have ordered a hit on these people?"
        McManus gave a deep sigh. "Yes. I suppose that its possible."
         "Do you have any idea as to who would be the most likely to give the 
order?"
           McManus thought it over for a moment. "The Italians usually kill 
over honor so its possible that they subcontracted the hit. The gangstas 
would care more about it if they thought that they had been wronged. But 
there in something of a state of flux now."
            "What about the Muslims? That guy Said seems to inspire a lot of 
loyalty." 
           "Maybe. But Said is more into justice then the vengeance. Ever si
nce the riot he has been big on using the system to prove that the white mans 
laws can be manipulated for the black mans truth."
        Logan paused thinking over the other criminals." What about the 
Irish? They can believe in revenge pretty strongly."
        "You mean O'Reilly?" Because Logan was good at keeping his emotions 
to himself,he managed to listen to the remark without any sign of flinching.
        "I read his file. He ordered the death of a man outside the prison."
        "Preston Nathan. Yeah, we know. But that was his brothers doing. Most 
of O'Reillys is bluster. He's good a t manipulating people but he doesn't do 
much outside his family."
         "Maybe."
         McManus fixed him with a look. "Do you know more about this then 
you're telling me?"
          "All I know is what in the file, Mr. McManus. Look, I'm going to 
have to see the files of all the prisoners that you have written up.'
           McManus narrowed his eyebrows. "That's over fifty prisoners. You 
sure you want to go through all this on wild goose chase?"
          Logan fixed him with a smile. "Its the FBI's goose chase not mine."

ALEXANDER HAMILTON MOTOR LOUNGE
10:26 P.M.

            Danny Torrance looked up from the pile of files that he had gone 
through with a feeling of something close to exhaustion. For the first time 
since they had begun the investigation he was beginning to wonder if there 
was anything to their theory and that the crimes might be focused on 
something else altogether.He had been looking through the pile of files for 
over three hours and he had yet to encounter anything that even seemed to 
give them a leg up in figuring out who the killer was, if he was in fact a 
prisoner from Oz.
           He looked across the table at his partners. Mulder was still 
poring over the files with the same energy that he had when they had gotten 
started. Scully, on the other hand, was looking up from time to time with the 
expression of one who was becoming increasingly frustrated with her work.
And Logan matched her look of dismay and aggravation.
           "Mulder maybe's its time that we take a break." said Scully.
           Mulder looked up. "Scully, we have to go through everything if we 
want to be prepared to talk to the prisoners tomorrow."
           "And ask them what?" said Logan. "You really think that some hard 
ass whose been doing time since before we got into the bureau is just going 
to come up to us and say "I killed those people by teleporting from there to 
New Jersey. Go ahead and dry my arm for a lethal injection."
          Mulder fixed Logan with a very hard stare. "Coming to this prison 
was your idea Officer Logan. Don't tell me that you don't have the balls to 
see it out."
        At this Logan stood up. "Do you really want to get into a discussion 
about balls, Agent Mulder?" Torrance stood up and put a hand on Mulder' 
shoulder. 
     "Look its been a long day and we're all a bit on edge.Could we please 
not get into a lot of macho bullshit now?"Reluctantly, Mulder and Logan both 
sat back down. "Mulder, have you got any theories as to how the killer might 
be doing this?"
         Mulder sat down. "Actually I do have a theory. Scully what was the 
name of that prisoner who began suffering from unexplained headaches?'
      Scully lifted up his file. "Prisoner number 98N511 George Novak. In 
prison for two counts of aggravated assault. Sentenced to 15 years. ' Nor is 
he the only prisoner suffering from these unexplained headaches. Two biker 
buddies of his Jazz Hoyt and Carlton Wick who also came to Oz less then a 
year ago have come to the infirmary on a couple of occasions with similar 
problems.
           "Did either have any unexplained fainting spells?" Danny could see 
Mulder/s eyes dancing; it was a sure sign that he had adapted his theory to 
fit the circumstances
           "Actually yes.."
          "There are reports that certain people who have learned the ability 
to successfully astral project themselves suffer from unexplained headaches 
and fainting spells.'
        Logan took this in.."Great . I liked the first theory better. You're 
telling me that these prisoner have somehow come up with a literal Get Out Of 
Jail Free card and instead of using it to leave the prison there committing 
these crimes."
          "Astral projection does not preclude the possibility that they are 
invisible killers. Certain astral projectors have been able to disappear from 
one location only to not completely appear at one other place."
       "Astral projection and invisibility? Jesus X. Christ. Must you turn 
everything into a paranormal circus, Mulder?"
        "I'm inclined to agree with Officer Logan. " said Scully. "There is 
no evidence--- scientific or otherwise---- to show that these crimes were 
committed in such a manner"
        As he always did whenever he was faced with opposition, Mulder did 
what he always did: try to convince Scully that he was right. "Scully how 
else do you explain the lack of entrance, no signs of defensive wounds or 
fingerprints? How else do you explain how the killer managed to get in or out 
without being seen?"
           "The killer made a very clean entrance and exit. There is nothing 
on the crime scenes that can't be explained by the presence of a very capable 
criminal ."
        "And very capable criminals is what were dealing with,Scully. I'd 
think that would be clear by now.."
         "What is clear is that you are so determined to bring the paranormal 
into this investigation that you can not see what is obvious to everyone 
else."    Logan got up, walked to the door and left slamming it in a huff.
For a moment Danny hesitated unsure how to proceed. Then he got up and 
followed Logan outside He was becoming frustrated with how the investigation 
was proceeding as well. But he could also see that there was something else 
on Officer Logan's mind.
         "I don't know how you stand working for him." said Logan as Danny 
approached him.  Danny took out his cigarettes offered one to the police 
officer who shook his head and then lit one.  
        "I find that when I work with Mulder its a good idea to put logic and 
reason on hold. The hell of it is, he's right more often then we are."
         "So you think that his creepy theories are going to turn out to be 
right in the end." said Logan dubiously.
         "Yeah,but I didn't come out here to talk about the case. Something 
about this investigation has been rubbing you the wrong way since we got 
started."
           Logan hesitated before speaking. "This I search into what really 
happened at Oz. There's all kind of corruption going on. I mean I looked at 
the file and at least one man was murdered. Not killed in the riot,murdered."
          Danny nodded. He had read some of the Case report and it was clear 
by what was said and what had not been said that one man had died at the 
hands of another.
        'You think that the murder of this man has something to do with these 
crimes that were looking at?"
        Logan shrugged. "I don't know , but it would come as a huge surprise 
to me if it did not."
         "That still isn't what's really bothering you is it. What's really 
bothering you has to do with that criminal that the warden mentioned----Ryan 
O'Reilly." When Logan made a movement as if to deny it, Danny spoke again. 
"Come on. I saw how you reacted."
       Logan stood still for a few moments "When I was growing up, the 
O'Reilly's lived three blocks away.  Ryan and Cyril ran the westies from my 
neighborhood.. "
       Danny looked at Logan with a certain amount of surprise. "You ran with 
them. "
        Logan shook his head. "My mother said that they were nothing but 
trash. It was one of the few things that me and her really agreed about.I got 
into a couple of fights with them .They fought dirty even back then." He 
paused. "When I was working as a detective in Manhattan, I heard that Ryan 
had jumped from minor thug to major felon I never expected to cross paths 
with him again.  Sure had that wrong." He heaved a huge sigh. "Hearing his 
name made me see how much things have changed. Maybe it's from hanging around 
your creepy partners but I have the feeling that me running into the 
O'Reilly's is some kind of sign."
        Danny walked up to the cop. "You want to beg off, I'm sure that my 
partners wouldn't mind."
         Logan thought it over for a minute, then shook his head. "I never 
ran away from a fight in my life. But I think maybe it would be best if one 
of you handled the interview. "
         "You think that O'Reilly's involved in this?"
         "I think that all the crimes in this prison are somehow all tied 
together. "
        "Well we already have figured out that much."
        Logan shook his head. "I meant that the crimes that took place during 
the riot are somehow tied to these death. I think that if we can figure out 
who did what there, we'll know who the killer plans to strike next."

Part 3

EMERALD CITY
10:14 A.M.

        One of the things that Mulder had noticed when going over the files 
of the prisoners at Emerald City was the rather large number of famous or 
infamous criminals. Antonio Nappa the Italian Mob boss, Raoul Hernandez the 
Hispanic gang leader, Jackson Vayhue, the basketball star in jail for rape 
and Shirley Bellinger,the first woman to be sentenced to death row since 1840 
or so. However he had no doubt that he was about to interview the most 
notorious of all the prisoners in Oz.
        Kareem Said stood before him. A medium sized black man with a dark 
beard and hair graying at the temple his eyes flashed with anger. He carried 
himself with a sense of pride and righteousness that Mulder imagined that few 
men in or outside of this prison could have matched. 
       Said looked at him in silence apparently determined to have Mulder 
make the first move. After a few seconds, he did. The attractive prison guard 
who had led him  --- Wittlesey, Mulder thought that her name was ---followed 
Said from a distance. Mulder wasn't happy that a guard was going to hear all 
of the questions that he was going to ask but it had been prearranged with 
McManus that a guard be with them throughout the interview.  Mulder decided 
to give in to his demands
        " My name is Agent Mulder.Please sit down, Mr. Truitt." Said's eyes 
flashed and he knew that he had struck a nerve.
       "My name is Kareem Said. It has been for five years. Goodson Truitt is 
no more."
        Mulder nodded. "So I've heard. You rejected your past ever since you 
found Allah."
         "I did not reject my past, Agent Mulder. Nor have I forgotten it. 
Ever since I came to Oz, I have never forgotten the man who I was. I am now 
far more aware of myself than I have ever been."
        "Yes. I have seen how you have made yourself a powerful man inside 
Oz."
        Said smiled It was not a very pleasant smile. "You think that I am a 
powerful man. Agent Mulder, I have lost all the freedoms that I once had . I 
may appeared to be a big man, but I am a giant among midgets if I am a giant 
at all.  Anyway you didn't come here discuss my power."
       "Then why are we here, Minister?" Mulder gave the word an inflection 
of irony that he didn't know whether it was intentional or not.
       "I am here because Tim McManus told me that I must see you. You are 
here because you believe that I am responsible somehow for a series of 
murders."
        Mulder stood up. "Do you know who Harold Goergen is?"
       Said shook his head. "I have know idea who that man is."
       "He was one of the men in the National Guard who came in and shot the 
place up. According to the ballistic report he killed Kamul Adbullah, one of 
your followers."
        Said's eyes showed a trace of sadness when Mulder mentioned his 
followers name but his voice gave away nothing. "I never knew who it was who 
killed Abdullah."
         "How about Oliver Brown? His name ring any bells?"
        "I assume that he was another of the men who entered Emerald City :"
        "Oh, be did a lot more than that. He was reprimanded for severely 
beating a prisoner after the riot."
          Said smiled grimly. ":There was much needless bloodshed after the 
riot.."
         "Supposedly the man that he beat so severely was you." Again Said's 
eyes flashed but his voice remained full of pride and restraint.
         "I never cared to learn his name."
         "So then you are telling me that you don't care that these men and 
two others who entered the complex who beat prisoners, who killed prisoners 
are now dead."
        "Don't misunderstand me, Agent Mulder. I mourn these men even though 
they did tried to kill me. They are more victims of the random violence that 
continues to plague our street. They are victims of the Governor's 
determination to subdue the men behind these walls."
        "So they are more martyrs to your cause?" said Mulder. He was 
becoming frustrated with Said's holier- than- thou attitude.
         "You think that I had something to do with their deaths? If you had 
read my books you would know that I believe that violence should only be used 
in the most extreme of cases and only after all other attempts have failed."
      "So you don't think that one of your followers could have acted out of 
some misguided effort to administer justice?"
        "If someone from outside the prison decided to kill these men, Agent 
Mulder, I didn't tell them to do it. If anything, I would have urged them to 
allow those men to live."
         "And why is that, Said?"
         "Since the riot, I have been gathering prisoners and the members of 
the families of the prisoners who died to join me in filing a class action 
suit against Governor Devlin, the state and the National Guard. So it would 
not be in my best interests for these men to die."
        Mulder took this in. He had been pretty sure that Said wasn't 
responsible for the death and his behavior only seemed to confirm it.
"Do you plan to argue this case yourself?"
      "I will be doing most of the argument, yes. But if you want proof that 
I am serious, call my lawyer Abraham Zelman. He is doing most of the outside 
work as I cannot for obvious reasons."
       Mulder took down the name of the lawyer. He knew what he would 
probably find if he investigated further. But he refused to show Said any 
preferential treatment.
         "Now, if that is all, I would like to return to my cell."
         "One last thing, Minister. In the months since the riot, has anyone 
approached you with the attitude that those who were involved in the riot 
needed to be punished?"
        For a moment Said appeAred that he would answer no. Then for reasons 
that Mulder could not even begin to fathom, he responded quietly.
         "About six months ago, a new prisoner a pproached me about the riot. 
He said that he had read my book and asked me if I was interested in handing 
out a punishment to those who had violated the spirit of the law ."
         "What did you tell him?"
         "I told him that I was not interested in any kind of approach that 
he would have made. He then told me fine and walked away."
          "Why did you refuse him?"
         "Because I didn't trust the man. He polluted his mind with all sorts 
of drugs.":
        "And he was white." Mulder finished
        "That was the least of my concerns with the man."
         "What was his name?"
        Said paused for a second. "Novak. George Novak."

UNIT B
11:22 A.M.

        In his many years as a cop, Mike Logan had come to think of all 
criminals as equally reprehensible. It didn't matter if he was white or 
black, Jewish or Catholic, if they had committed a crime, they were all 
deserving of his disgust.  However of all the lawbreakers that he had to deal 
with, Logan had come to detest those who committed hate crimes. In point of 
fact he had gotten himself kicked out of the Manhattan police force because 
he had expressed his disgust towards a man who had committed a very specific 
kind of hate crime--- the murder of a homosexual. It was true that his own 
prejudices had  their effect on him in that last case, but he knew that he 
would not have acted the way that he had if the crime had not been so vicious.
      All of this did not make him feel particularly eager to interrogate the 
next prisoner that he was going to talk with. Not only was he a leader of the 
Aryan brotherhood in Oz, he was suspected in a series of racist a ttacks on 
the Muslims the blacks and a Jewish man Furthermore he was assumed to be 
involved in the attack of two other prisoners in the last six months.. One 
involved the crucifixion of a former priest and the other involved the 
beating of another prisoner that had left him in a full body cast. The man 
was racist filth and Logan was not crazy about being the one to talk with 
him. However, since the investigation was going to lead to Emerald City which 
had its own series of problem and since  because of his upbringing was the 
most likely to get something out of this man, he had agreed to interview him.
        Vernon Schillinger entered the room. He was a medium sized man, 
almost bald with whatever hair that he still had was turning gray. He had a 
small scar around his left eye--- Logan did not want to speculate how he got 
that..
         "Take a seat, Mr. Schillinjer." said Logan without looking up.
         "Schillinger." He said with emphasis on the last syllable. Logan 
didn't particularly care for the mans attitude. But then he didn't care a 
great deal for the man.
        "All right then Mr. Schillinger. I have a few questions to ask you."
      "What's all this about?" 
       "The Staten Island police in connection with the FBI are 
investigating...."
       "A bunch of murders, yeah, yeah I've already heard about that shit."
       This unsettled Logan. He had expected word to get out about their 
investigation but he didn't like that it had already leaked this far. "What 
have you heard?"
       "You think that guys around here can leave and come back without 
anybody knowing. I can think of a lot of places nicer than Jersey that I'd 
rather go." Schillinger spoke pleasantly . "They actually pay you people to 
think these theories."
           Suddenly Logan had had enough. Ever since this case had started he 
had been pushed around. First by his boss, then by the Feds, now he was 
taking abuse from this Nazi prick.. It was just too much for him.
        "No they don't pay me the big bucks for think up these things. You 
know what they really give me the money for? Locking up scumfucks like you." 
The moment that he said the phrase he knew that he had made a mistake. He had 
surrendered whatever advantage he might have with the man at the price of 
assuaging his ego. It was a mistake that the newest rookie wouldn't have made.
       For his part, Schillinger didn't noticeably react. He simply stood up 
and knocked on the window. "Lopresti. " A guard with graying hair walked into 
the room. "I believe that this man was threatening me.."
        Lopresti looked at him for a moment, then he looked back at Logan. 
"This guy giving you any trouble?"
        "No just a minor disagreement." As Lopresti left, two things occurred 
to Logan simultaneously. The first was that Schillinger must not be very 
popular even within the close community of Oz. The second was that he was 
going to have to do some backpedaling if he wanted to get any information 
about these murders.
        "I apologize,Mr. Schillinger. This case has brought up a lot of 
tension. You know what that's like tension builds up, you react even though 
it isn't necessarily the smartest thing to do. "
       Schillinger seemed to take the apology with a certain amount of 
equanimity.   "Sure. A man gets angry he loses control."
        "And you're probably getting tired of being accused of things that 
you had nothing to do with." 
         "It does drain a man." said Schillinger.
          "So why don't we talk about something that you did do. " The Aryan 
looked at him with a perfectly blank expression.
          "About a year ago, you were accused by Diane Wittlesey of 
conspiring to murder another inmate."
            "That's horseshit,the bitch framed me." Schillinger continued to 
speak with a certain amount of calm. 
            'So you accused her of killing a man during the riot in Emerald 
City."
Logan looked down at the file in front of him "Scott Ross."
            "Yeah. " Schillinger maintained his poker face.
            "Were you telling the truth about that or were you just 
bullshitting those in charge?"
            "Hey, I know what I saw. That cunt shot Scott in cold blood."
            "Have you told anyone else about this?"
             "Shit, yeah. I told both my attorneys and I testified to it on a 
hearing."
              "How about anybody in Em City?" For the first time Schillinger 
seemed to think it over a little. "
                "I may have told a couple of the bikers. Some men who were 
his friends."
              "Did you tell George Novak?"
             "Who?"
              "How about Jazz Hoyt?"
              Schillinger paused. "I may have mentioned it to him in passing."
               "Really?" 
               "Look, I've had enough of this shit."
               "So have I. You can go now."
                The Aryan leader looked at Logan for a minute. "If you 
breathe a word of this to anyone else in Oz, I won't confirm a word of it."
               "Don't worry." said Logan with a smile. "As far as I'm 
concerned this conversation never happened.
          
 PSYCHIATRIC WARD
12 10 P.M.
         
          The more time that Scully spent behind the walls of Oz the less she 
liked it. She didn't know why she felt so uncomfortable. Perhaps it was 
because of her general dislike of prisons or maybe it was because she felt a 
repulsion at seeing men being treated so badly even if they were only one 
step better then scum.
         Being in the psychiatric section of Oz did not make her feel more 
comfortable. Here however she could pinpoint a reason why she felt so 
unsettled. These were criminals who the system had given up on. The men here 
had lost their sanity as well as their freedom and in her mind this made them 
especially dangerous. True they were mostly medicated to the point that they 
should have been harmless, but that did not reassure her much.
          She wasn't all that comfortable to get ready to talk to the inmate 
here,Simon Adebisi. Apparently before he had his mental breakdown, he had 
been one of the biggest problems in the prison. A heroin addict, he had run 
the gangstas and had used his brute strength inspire a lot of fear throughout 
the prison. A month before his breakdown, he had beaten a Mafioso to a pulp 
and had raped another one. (In a grim irony, that inmate had been sent to the 
psych ward as well.) Then a few weeks later he had some kind of breakdown and 
was found doing some kind of tribal dance near the body of another prisoner.
       Since then Adebisi had been kept in the psych ward and medicated on 
lithium and Prozac.  Supposedly the medication had kept him balanced and he 
was making a recovery. This made it somewhat unlikely that he was the man who 
had ordered the murders. Scully couldn't figure out why Mulder wanted her to 
speak with him., but then she didn't care as much about it as he did.
        She walked into the ward where Adebisi was lying down. She managed to 
get a good look at him before she talked to him. He was a very big black him 
with a thin scruff of hair on his head that was badly in need of a comb. He 
had brown eyes which did not seem to be in focus.He looked to be in need of a 
shave.
           For a moment Scully was stymied how to proceed Then she pulled 
herself together. "Simon. I'm Special Agent Dana Scully. I'd like to ask you 
a few questions. "
        Adebisi just looked at her for a moment. "You want to talk to me?"His 
voice had an accent that made him sound moire foreign plus his speech was 
slightly slurred-- no doubt an effect of the medication that he was on
        Again Scully felt somewhat confused. Then she went on. "I'd like to 
talk to you about the riot."
         Adebisi frowned for a second. "That was a bad time. I did bad things 
then. "
           Scully wondered if the breakdown that Adebisi had led to an effect 
on his intellect. Medically that shouldn't have been possible but still she 
was curious." What did you do?"
          Again a pause. "I snorted dope. I beat people up. I tried to kill 
another man over drugs. " He looked up at Scully His eyes seemed glazed. "I 
don't do those things anymore."
          "Since... You came here,have you talked to anyone from Emerald 
City?"
           Adebisi shook his head.  "I miss my friends I would like to talk 
to them again. But they're afraid I might do bad things. And they might be 
right."
          Scully realized that coming here was a waste of time.  Adebisi was 
in no condition to talk to here, let alone plot these murders.  She didn't 
know whether it was possible for a criminal to be broken by drugs but it was 
clear that something in this man was broken; perhaps beyond repair. 
       "Thank you, Simon." she said and walked away.
        She never looked back and therefore never noticed that the glazed 
expression on Adebisi's face slowly disappear and change to something more 
calculating. Almost sinister. 

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT
12: 25 P.M.

          "Hey asshole! You ever gonna fix my shower? It stinks in here."
         "You are one ugly motherfucker!"
         "Suck my dick, you scumwad!"
          "Be quiet! I'm trying to jerk off!"
          Danny had thought that the prisoners in Emerald City had gotten 
loud when he and the other agents had gone in to say that they were going to 
have to talk with them. However, the noise seemed almost quiet compared to 
the foul mouth shouting that greeted him when he entered solitary 
confinement. He supposed that he shouldn't be that surprised. These were men 
who were on the final borders of the criminal justice system. Men who had 
proved themselves unacceptable to live even in the high standards of a 
maximum security prison.Now they were locked into rooms that were even 
smaller then their cells. Left alone with only themselves for company. Most 
of them were probably only a step or two away from madness. He hoped that 
Miguel Alvarez was closer to sanity then the others.
         The guard that he was walking with came to a stop in front of a 
bolted door. It looked no different then any other bolted door . He opened it 
to reveal a barred door. A medium sized Latino got to his feet. Danny could 
tell that the man looked skinny and malnourished. He wondered what he had 
been eating. Then he remembered what the file said that Alvarez had done to 
come here.He had cut out the eyes of a CO. He was willing to bet that the 
other CO's could not have been very happy with this man.
          "Alvarez?" he said slowly unsure of how to proceed.
          "That's me. And you must be from Publisher's Clearing House. Shit. 
I never thought that you'd received my letter."
           Danny turned to the guard. "Did you frisk him for weapons?" The 
guard nodded. " Leave us alone."
         "That's not advisable." said the CO.
         "I'll take my chances . " The CO looked at him for a second then 
shrugged. He shut the barred door and then closed the iron door over it.
For a second, Danny was unsure how to proceed.
         "What can I do for you?" Alvarez said. His tine suggested that he 
meant to be sarcastic. However, all that Danny could detect in his tone was 
exhaustion. 
           Awkwardly Danny started to reach for his badge. "I'm with the FBI. 
I'm here to ask you a few questions."
         "Hey you want to ask me something you go right ahead. That doesn't 
mean that I'm gonna answer you. 
         "I understand that you used to run the Latinos in Em City."
         Alvarez nodded . "Yeah, I was a big man till that bastard El Cid 
came to Oz. Now I got this cushy suite all to myself."
          Danny took this in. "You're in solitary for blinding a CO. You 
saying that was done under orders?"
          "I ain't saying shit to no cop."
          "I'm a..."
          "Yeah, I know what you said you were. IT's all the same shit to me. 
I ain't gonna snitch on nobody."
         Danny sighed. He had known that this wasn't going to be an easy 
interview.
         "Look Alvarez. I know that you're in a shitty place."
         "Yeah, what do you know about being in shit.How old are you? 
Eighteen,Nineteen?"
           "I'm twenty-seven."
           "Really? I'm twenty nine. You want to know what the difference 
between us?  You're gonna spend your thirtieth birthday surrounded by your 
friends and family. I'm gonna spend it surrounded these four wall s and my 
own shit. This shit is all I got to look forward now. Nothing but this for 
the rest of my fucking life."
          "S o what? You want me to go a way and just leave to yourself?
Alvarez sighed and sat back on his cot.  Danny moved next to him slowly
"Look Miguel. I understand that you're in a  shitty place. "
        "Master of fucking understatement here."
         Danny ignored him. "The way that I figure it,you don't have anything 
left to lose. So come on. Help me out."
        "And if I help you? What do I get for that?"
        "You get to live with yourself."
        Alvarez thought it over for a moment. Then he almost unnoticeably 
made a motion forward.
         "While you were in Em City, did you know any prisoners who were 
particularly pissed at how the riot turned out?'
         The prisoner shook his head. "Man that shit was almost two years 
ago. Everybody's moved on "
        "So what are you saying: that everyone's forgotten about the riot."
        "Man you don't forget shit that big."
        "But you said..."
        "You live in a place like Oz; you can only deal with shit that 
happens in the present. You don't forget anything; you just choose when you 
want to remember it"
        'Is there anyone in Em City who might be capable of taking a longer 
view?"
        Alvarez thought for a second. "Said was always talking about stuff 
like that. But then he always waves his dick around whenever things got too 
quiet." There was another brief pause " Adebisi sometimes did some weird 
stuff. But then I hear that he got transferred to the loony bin, so I guess 
he ain't much of a suspect."
       "Anyone else?"
       There was another long pause as Alvarez considered the question. "A 
couple of guys from the bikers were pissed off that one of their guys got 
whacked."
         "Remember any names?"
         "Nosek, Noth, something like that. I don't remember."
          "Novak?"
          "Maybe."
           Danny stood up. "Thank you for your help." Even as he said the 
words he knew how pathetic that he must sound to this criminal. "He rapped on 
the door. 'I'm finished here" The door opened. Alvarez didn't move as he left.

LIBRARY
2:09 P.M.

            Scully was beginning to wonder if she was really getting 
anywhere. None of the prisoners that she had interviewed were willing to 
reveal much. They gave bits and pieces that when added up did not reveal a 
great deal as to who was behind the killings.  Feeling frustrated after here 
last series of fruitless inquiries, she had chased down Mulder. He had been 
somewhat discouraged as well but he had told her that he believed that he had 
found a possible source who might be willing to give them the inside dope as 
to what was going on in Em City.
       "What makes you so sure that this man will be of greater help then 
anyone else?" Scully asked dubiously.,
          "He's been in prison longer than any inmate in Em City. Longer then 
lost of the men in Oz for that matter. He knows how things work around here. 
Besides his behavior has been marked as ... Unusual.'
       "Unusual how?"
       "You'll see." was all that Mulder would say.
        Now as they sat in the library, an old man approached them. He was in 
mid sixties and had lost most of his hair. His face was lined and wrinkled 
and he moved slowly. It was his eyes that held Scully.Most of the prisoners 
that she had seen had seemed dead when one looked in their eyes. This old man 
seemed to have something different. Experienced was the word that came to 
mind.
        "Bob Rebadow?" said Mulder. The old man turned to them with an 
unsurprised look on his face. When she had time to reflect on it later, 
Scully would think that she had been unsurprised to see them.
         "I'm Agent Mulder. This is Agent Scully. We'd like to ask you a few 
questions." Rebadow approached and took a seat. For a moment he looked at 
Scully.
          "Charlie has decided to propose to Linda." he said to Scully. He 
might have been mentioning the weather for all the fuss that he had made.
          Scully was stunned by Rebadow's remark.  Normally she armed herself 
with a barrier of skepticism that she used to keep Mulder from overwhelming 
her with his strange theories. However, this old man, this criminal had 
managed to hit her right between the eyes with that simple remark. 
         "How did you know that my brother was going to... How did you know 
that?" Scully sputtered out at last.
         Rebadow just smiled contently. "God told me."
         With that remark, Scully managed to regain some of her equilibrium
."You talk to God."
        "On occasion. Actually it has been a while since he last gave me a 
message.  I don't know why he bothered to tell me that."
         "Well, I guess congratulations are in order." Mulder sounded 
cheerful. 
          Rebadow was still looking at Scully. "I know that you think that 
I'm mad or deluded. Perhaps I am. But I do know that I am able to see things 
that men keep hidden."
          Scully was still a little unsure how to proceed with this inmate. 
Mulder, however, seemed nonplussed and in control. "Do you know what we are 
here to talk to you about?" he asked Rebadow.
         "You wish to ask me what I might know about the deaths of some 
members of the National Guard who entered Oz on the day of the riot." Rebadow 
spoke calmly.
        "Did God tell you that as well?" said Scully sarcastically.
        "No , I heard that much from the other prisoners. It's hard to keep 
some things a secret in a place like Oz."
          "What do you know about a prisoner named George Novak?"
          Rebadow seemed to ponder the question for a moment. "Novak was a 
biker on the outside. He ran in some of the same gangs with Scott Ross.Was 
tight with him.  He was sure that someone who worked in Oz killed him."
         "Why would he suspect that?" said Mulder.
         "He read the Case report. Apparently he thought that there was some 
conspiracy to cover up what happened to his friend."
           "Was there?" 
          "How the hell should I know? I wasn't allowed to participate in any 
of the sessions."
         "But you think so. " said Scully
          Rebadow turned coy. "As far as I know, there was no conspiracy."
         "Who has Novak been hanging with in Em City?" Mulder tried to change 
tracks.
          "Some of the bikers. He was pretty tight with Adebisi for a while . 
Still is."
            'That's not possible. " said Scully. " Adebisi is barely 
conscious.'
           'Novak works in the psych ward. He still sees him occasionally"
            Mulder paused. "Ever notice Novak doing anything strange?"
          "Define strange."
           Again Mulder paused. Scully didn't blame him. How do you explain 
to a prisoner that it's your job to investigate aliens and ghosts?
            "Did he ever disappear from his cell?"
           This time it was Rebadow who paused. "There was one occasion a 
couple of weeks ago. I saw him go into his pod. Then a few minutes later they 
did a shakedown of his cell. The guards went in and he wasn't there."
          "Where did he go?" asked Scully
          "I don't know. A few minutes later, they checked his cell a second 
time and there he was lying in his bunk . He said that he was in the bathroom 
or some other bullshit"
          "Did McManus ever file a report?"
          "I don 't think so. Apparently vanishing and then reappearing isn't 
any kind of a crime."
            Mulder got up. "Thank you, Mr. Rebadow."
             "Don't mention it."
             Scully followed behind him. "Mulder, I kn ow what you're 
thinking."
             "He's been lying to us, Scully. McManus has known that something 
has been going for a while."
            "Mulder, you're going on the word of one inmate."
          "Why would he lie?"
            "Why would he tell you the truth? Mulder, we need more to go on."
            Mulder turned to SCully. "We know that Novak wants revenge . We 
know that he's been experience headaches. And we know that he disappeared 
from his cell at least once. WE have to move Scully. We have to act fast."
           "Why?"
           "Because I think I know who his next target it."
           "Who?"
          "The one that he's wanted from the beginning..

EM CITY
2:23 P.M. 
     
               Danny knew that he was taking a big chance in interviewing the 
next prisoner. He knew just from looking at his files that the man in 
question might be more than a match for him. But he had seen how easily just 
the mere mention of his name had unsettled Officer Logan and he was 
determined to try and get him.
               Ryan O' Reilly entered the computer room and sat down across 
from Danny. The inmate was medium-sized, had black hair in a buzz cut that 
looked a little thinner on top than most prisoners, He wore a green shirt, 
black pants, and a golden cross. Danny wondered briefly if this meant that 
deep down O'Reilly was as religiously devout as Scully or if he just wore the 
cross for decoration.
             Wittelesey the attractive prison guard followed O'Reilly into 
the room.  Danny indicated to her that he wanted to interview O'Reilly alone.
She shook her head. "McManus was specific that I stay in the room as long as 
you're talking to him." Danny wasn't thrilled with this arrangement. O'Reilly 
didn't seem to object
          " Word up, homeboy. What do you want to talk to me about?"
          "Well, Ryan... May I call you that?"
          "Hey I make it habit never to argue with people with guns."
           "If that were true O'Reilly, you'd spent less time in the hole. " 
Both men looked up at Wittlesey in surprise. Neither had expected her to say 
anything. Danny made a motion for her to keep quiet.
        "Do you know why you're here, Ryan?"
        O'Reilly nodded his head. "You think that someone in Em City whacked 
four dicks of the National Guard. I don't really know why you'd think that we 
would waste our time killing nobodies like those guys."
         "Right ,because all you dopes in Emerald City are as pure as the 
driven snow. You wouldn't do a thing to hurt another person."
        "Hey, shit happens, Mr. FBI and if you don't think that it does 
you're a dumber fuck than the hacks. No offense, Wittlesey." The prison guard 
apparently knew bullshit when she heard it because she ignored O'reilly's 
remark completely."
           "So I take it that all the rumors I've heard about you are true."
          O'Reilly's nonchalant attitude never wavered a bit. "What rumors?"
           "The rumors that said since you came to Oz, you've been a major 
player. Fraternizing with the wiseguys,the gangstas, the Muslims, anybody in 
order to get ahead. "
        "I don't have a fucking clue about what you're talking about. I've 
done business with a lot of people."
         "Who soon after you met with them ended up dead. Dino Ortalani, 
Jefferson Keane, Nino Shebetta. You did business with them and then they 
ended up dead."
        "Hey those guys lived fast and hard Its not my fault that they ended 
up down for the count."
       "And when the riot broke out,you just became one of the major leaders 
even though you were the only one with no firepower behind you." said Danny 
stubbornly.
         "What can I say? I've got more moves than the Lord Of The Fucking 
dance. But all this stuff it's before. I'm a different person now."
        "Indeed." Danny looked down at O'Reilly's file. "Last year you got 
breast cancer and ended up in the hospital." The smile on O'Reilly's face 
faded off quickly. "Then after you recovered, you repaid the doctor who 
treated you by murdering her husband."
           "What's the point of your digging up this bullshit? That's last 
year's shit?"
         "My point is that you're a can do kind of guy, O'Reilly. You want to 
get stuff done or get rid of a person who bothers you. Poof that person's 
history.. If you had put your mind to it, you could have had all four of 
those guys greased by proxy."
        O'Reillys face had gone all serious. "Listen here Mr. FBI. I didn't 
kill those guys in any manner. You may think that I've had people to kill. 
But all the things that I've done, I've done to survive.The only reason that 
people die in Oz is to survive."
            "So no one kills for revenge?"
           "Yeah, people kill for revenge/. They kill people inside these 
walls for vengeance. Nobody is stupid enough to kill people on the outside."
           "And Preston Nathan?" Danny refused to let go of it.
          For a minute O'Reilly was silent. "I did that because I loved her. 
I did it for her. And I'm going to pay for that crime.  But I didn't kill 
anybody else. I had no reason to kill those men."
            At that moment, someone rapped on the door. Danny looked up. It 
was Officer Logan. He was a little surprised to see him but he motioned 
towards Wittlesey and she opened the door. Logan briefly looked at O'Reilly 
before motioning towards Danny. " Can I speak to you for a moment outside?"
            Danny got up and headed for the door. As he passed Wittlesey, 
Logan made a motion towards her. "Could I see you for a moment?" The CO 
paused for a moment but then fell in step behind Logan and Danny.
            "Mulder and Scully say that they have figured out whose 
responsible for the murders."
             "They have?"
            "Well, Mulder said he knew. Scully just said that she wanted to 
see both of us. And you too. Ms. Wittlesey." An expression that was equal 
parts surprise and fear appeared on the guards face. It was there for only an 
instant but in that time Danny was able to make a quick deduction of his own. 
Wittlesey had been hiding something about the riot from the beginning. Now it 
was going to come out and she was scared.
            Logan hesitated. "You spoke to O'Reilly?"
            "Yeah."
            "What's he like?"
           "Stone cold like every other scumfuck in this prison." Danny 
thought that Logan would bring up something more but he didn't Maybe Logan 
had just confirmed what he already knew.

OFFICE OF TIM MCMANUS
3:18 PM

        "You've been lying to us since we started this investigation." 
McManus looked at Mulder with the expression of hostility that he had more or 
less been wearing since thee FBI had come to Oz.
       "You'd better have facts to back up that accusation." McManus said 
seeming calm with a certain measure of anger in his voice.
        "Officer Logan asked you if you could think of any prisoner with a 
reason to want to kill those people. You said that you didn't have any idea 
as to who would have such a reason. Yet for some reason you failed to mention 
George Novak to us. " 
          "I didn't hide anything about George Novak."
          "Then why didn;t you tell us that Novak one day managed to escape 
from his cell?"
         Wittlesey for the first time spoke up. "He didn't escape from his 
cell
 Someone saw him go into his cell and no one saw him leave When the guards 
checked his pod a few minutes later,he was still there.He didn't vanish or 
disappear if that's what your insinuating."
         Mulder took this in. "Why didn't you tell us that Novak held a 
grudge against the people in the National Guard?"
          "Look, Agent Mulder I've got to deal with over seventy different 
prisoners, all of them with there own vendettas. I have to keep the groups 
that hate each other from the ones who hate them., and in this prison 
everybody has got some reason to hate everybody else. I try to keep on top of 
the more important fights and feuds. George Novak's bluster about how he was 
upset at some strangers who haven't been in the prison since the riot comes 
in rather low on my list of priorities. "
        Mulder was about to launch into a furious diatribe about McManus 
should not be the one to make these kinds of judgement calls when McManus 
preempted. "Besides, there is no way that Novak could have committed these 
murders."
         "And what makes you so sure of that?"
         "I checked the time logs. On the days of the first two murders 
George Novak was in solitary confinement for beating up another prisoner. 
There is no way that he could have gotten out or given any kind of order to 
have those murders committed.
            Mulder slammed his hand on the table in frustration. "If my 
theories about how the murders were committed are correct, Novak could have 
done it no matter how may walls you out between him and the outside."
          "You're not going to give me that bullshit about the prisoners 
being able to teleport, are you?"
          "The actual term for this is   astral projection, Mr .McManus. And 
yes, I do believe that George Novak and possibly more prisoners are able to 
do this."
          McManus and Wittlesey looked at Mulder as if he was crazy. Mulder 
didn't mind, he was used to it .
           "And what makes you so certain that Novak can do this?"
            For the first time Agent Torrance contributed to the 
conversation. "Do you have any idea why Novak went to the infirmary for 
migraines? According to his charts, he had no history of them on the outside"
          "Do I look like a fucking nurse? He had headaches. Dr. Nathan gave 
him aspirin and he came back here." said McManus.
          "Those kind of pains would be consistent with someone who was able 
to austral project."
          "You have no proof of that. " said Wittlesey. "Besides if he could 
really get himself out of prison why would he waste his power greasing 
complete strangers? "
        "Even the most talented astral projectors can only perform it for 
more than a few minutes. Doing so takes a tremendous amount of energy. That's 
probably why he needed to go to the infirmary."
          "All right, lets say that I accept your theory and Novak has 
committed these murders. Why?" said McManus. "The man wasn't in Oz when the 
riot took place. Why would he want to kill these people?"
          "I can't explain that. However, I do know that Novak has been 
hanging around some of the groups in Oz who are angry about the riot. Maybe 
he thought that killing these people would be a good way to increase his 
credit."
          At this point Scully spoke up.  "Mulder, before we headed in here 
you told me that you had an idea who his next target was. Shouldn't we be 
focusing our energy on protecting that person?"
         "That's why we're here, Scully. "
          "I don't understand." said Wittlesey.
          Then to his irritation, Torrance spoke up. "He's saying that the 
next target is you, Miss Wittlesey"
         "What are you talking about?" said McManus. He said the phrase in 
such a manner that Mulder was sure that he knew what he was about to say.
           "During the riot, you shot Scott Ross, one of Novak's best friends 
on the outside. " said Logan
            "I was cleared of that. The commission found that I acted in 
self-defense." Wittlesey said it in such a manner that Mulder thought that 
she was saying it by rote.
             "Well whatever the shooting was or was not, you were responsible 
for Ross' death. That means  that he is probably going to come after you 
next." said Mulder.
             McManus and Wittlesey exchanged a look. In that glance, Mulder 
suddenly knew that the report of the commission had been worded so that the 
prison guard would not be punished. He knew that Wittlesey was guilty of 
murder.
             "If that's the case, we should get Novak right now." said Logan. 
"Where is he?"
              McManus looked down at a paper. "He should be on work detail in 
the dress factory."
             Mulder walked towards the door. "Then we'd better grab him up. 
Miss Wittlesey, you'd better get to a safe place."
            "No." The prison guard spoke firmly.
            "Diane, maybe you should..." 
           "No Tim." She turned to McManus "For nearly two years I've been 
running away from this. Now I'm going to face it.I'm not going to be a coward 
any more." She turned to Mulder. "I'll take you to the dress factory."
           "I'm coming along" said Torrance. Mulder was about to object then 
decided not to. He knew that Torrance could be just as firm when he set his 
mind to something.
              "All right. Scully, Officer Logan you check on those other 
prisoners who suffered from headaches. They might be projectors too and.we 
don't want any surprises. 
              "Do you think that we should go to lockdown?" asked McManus.
    Mulder paused. If he was right about his theory, it wouldn't matter if 
the other bikers were here or stuck in their pods. Besides this might warn 
them that their secret was out. He shook his head. "Don't. AT least wait 
until we have Novak." He hurried out.,Torrance and Wittlesey close behind him.

             The dress factory was crowded.Danny wasn't surprised. This was 
the place where most of the prisoners worked. Wittlesey had talked to the 
foreman and had asked to let them come through without disturbing the other 
prisoners. The idea was that maybe they could take Novak by surprise. They 
walked quickly up the assembly line, the two federal agents trailing behind 
the prison guard. They walked past the line at a moderate speed. Nobody 
wanting to give anything away.  They passed an old man with greying hair, a 
younger man with long blond, hair , a black man with as beard on a 
wheelchair. Danny had time to think that this part of the prison at least was 
an equalizer. All men were the same in the eyes of the men who worked here.
             Mulder saw Novak first and reached for his gun. Danny who was 
right next to him wasn't sure if this was the correct approach. Novak was a 
big man six feet four, 250 to 260 ponds easy. He head was shaved completely 
bald . His eyes were grey and appeared slightly dead. When one got a closer 
look at him though one could see that they were alive and dangerous.
           "Novak." said Wittlesey. The prisoner turned to face the three of 
them with no expression of surprise in his eyes. Danny sensed that he knew 
what was going on.
           "Well Diane. So you've finally decided to come done and see where 
the rest of working stiffs do our job. " His tone sounded more amused then 
anything else.  "You know I was going to make an appointment to see you, but 
I didn't know that you ever got your hands dirty.."
           "These men want to have a little chat with you." Wittlesey moved 
aside and Mulder came up.
          "And you've brought two suits to see men. What are you, a couple of 
New York's finest?"
         Mulder took out his badge. Torrance didn't move. "Well, well well 
The FB fucking I. I must have done something really big to rate a visit from 
you.."
          "We'd like to ask you a few questions, Novak. " said Mulder. 
Torrance decided that he was going to let Mulder lead this discussion. 
         :"Go ahead and ask. "It seemed to Danny that Novak was leering at 
them, trying to get a rise out of them.  He knew from past experience that it 
would take a lot more than Novak was currently doing to get a rise out of him.
         "What does the name Harold Goergen mean to you?"
          Novak didn't even pause. "Not a fucking thing."
          "How about Oliver Brown? Lyle Thurman?"
         "Not a thing. Mr. FBI."
          "How a bout Scott Ross? Or does that name mean diddly shit to you?"
          That attracted Novak's attention. "Yeah I knew Ross. He was a 
friend of mine before his untimely death." He fixed Wittlesey with a glare. 
The prison guard had evidently taken a lot worse from far more dangerous 
prisoner for she managed to keep her gaze level and even.
           "You were pretty upset about Ross' death. Everyone says that you 
were pretty pissed off.."
            "Yeah. I was angry. I was pretty pissed off. This is Oz, Mr. FBI. 
If you're not fucking angry.you're not able to keep going. Who are these dead 
guys?"
          Mulder narrowed his glance. "I didn't say that they were dead."
          "You're with the FBI. The FBI only comes in when somebody important 
has died. "
         Danny decided that it was time to enter the conversation. "They were 
members of the National Guard. They entered Oz during the riots and shot some 
prisoners. On balance they did a bad thing..But that doesn't give anybody the 
right to kill them."
          "Are you accusing me of something, sir?"
          "We've got agents searching your pod right now, Novak. You telling 
me that they're not going to find anything that puts you on the scene?
            Novak just looked at them. Then he turned his gaze to Mulder."How 
did I kill these men, Mr. FBI?"
           Mulder finally began to lose come of his cool. "My name is Special 
Agent Mulder, Novak. Get it straight or..."
         "Or else what? What can you honestly do to me that will make my life 
worse then it already is?"           
          "We can throw your ass into solitary." said Wittlesey. Danny could 
tell that Novaks calm behavior was starting to nettle her
          "I kind of like solitary. Its peaceful..Gives a man time to be al
one with his thoughts. Really have you actually got anything or are you going 
to just take wild shots at me?"
          Mulder glared at the criminal for a moment. Novak did not break the 
stare. It was pretty clear that he was a hardcore prisoner who wasn't going 
to just break under constant questioning. "All right, we're done for now, 
Novak But don't think that this is over. We may not have enough to get you 
now, but we will soon and we will get you." Mulder turned around and headed 
towards the exit.
         Danny followed behind Mulder, more then a little incredulous. He 
waited until the agents had walked out of the dress shop before he grabbed 
Mulder by the shoulder. "That's it? We do all this work and you just let him 
walk away!"
        "I had to play this kind of game with him, Torrance.Do you honestly 
think that this man who is clever enough to kill four people is going to be 
stupid enough to let us just catch him this easily.?"
         "No, but I expected you to try a little harder."
         "Don't write me off just yet. I think I know how we can catch this 
guy. I'm going to need your help Miss Wittlesey. "
         The CO looked at Mulder in surprise. " What do you want?"
         "I need you to start a rumor."

Part 4 - Conclusion

EM CITY
10:00 P.M.

          Logan had not liked how this investigation was proceeding. He knew 
that if anyone else had come up with the crazy theories that Agent Mulder was 
presenting,he would have been laughed out of the room. But Scully and 
Torrance who were(from what he had observed ) intelligent capable people 
seemed to not only view Mulder as if he was serious but also correct in his 
assumptions. And the way that he had managed to convince people to follow his 
plans.
          After Mulder, Torrance and Wittlesey had returned from their 
interview with Novak, Mulder had said again that he was convinced that Novak 
had been behind the murders. This was an assumption that had no concrete 
evidence to support it. While Mulder had been on his errand, he and Scully 
had searched the cells of Novak, Hoyt and Wick. They had found nothing to 
conclusively link the three of them to the murders. This hadn't surprised 
Logan too much. In his career in law enforcement, he had found out that 
criminals for they most part are stupid, they tend to get smarter once they 
end up in prison.
        Mulder then presented another theory that had no evidence to support 
it. He said that Novak was killing these men and that he was doing it after 
lights out every night .
         "What makes you think that he would wait until he was locked 
up?"asked Scully.
         "Because that way he has an airtight alibi for the crimes."
         "Well, if that's the case how do you plan to prove that he killed 
anybody?" Logan had asked.
         "BY catching him in the act when he makes his next attack."
 Mulder had then unfolded his plan. He asked McManus and Glynn to tell the 
prisoners that the investigation had been suspended due to lack of evidence 
and that they were returning back to the city. Nothing was to be done to 
Novak or any of the other suspected prisoners. This would lull the criminals 
into a false sense of security and therefore make him plan his next attack.. 
It was also Mulder's theory that Novak would then proceed to attack his next 
target: Wittlesey . Torrance and Logan would stay in the prison and watch 
Novak and his colleagues while Scully and himself guarded Wittlesey.
          Logan had not been crazy about this plan. He thought that it led to 
a lot of unnessecary risks for Wittlesey. Besides there was no guarantee that 
Novak would necessarily go after the CO. He was relieved that he was not 
alone in feeling this way. McManus objected to being the pawn of the FBI and 
putting Wittlesey at risk. Even Agent Scully had been dubious at the 
possibilities of this plan working properly. However Mulder had overcome all 
these objections with a simple argument.
          "Novak and his friends are most likely responsible for these four 
murders. There is a lot of circumstantial evidence to link him to this crime 
but no actual proof.If we are to have any chance of stopping him before he 
kills again--- and he will, I'm sure of that---- we have to try and set him 
up."
        Logan still wasn't convinced that MUlder's plan was reasonable, but 
at that point Wittlesey herself had said that she was willing to go along 
with this. McManus had argued vehemently(Logan had had time to think that 
maybe the prison guard and he had a closer relationship then just being 
coworkers) but in the end he too had given in.
          So far everything was going according to schedule. Glynn and 
McManus had spread the word that the investigation was suspended. Mulder and 
Scully had left to aid the deception. When Wittlesey's shift had ended, she 
had gone home with Mulder and Scully.  In the meanwhile, Torrance had gone 
into the guards room and had put on a CO's uniform.  When he had looked at 
him with questioning eyes, he had said: "If were going to be undercover we 
might as well dress the part. " Logan had then taken another uniform and 
gotten dressed. He hadn't objected though he had  a flashback to his days as 
a patrolmen.. While he had dressed, he had asked Torrance if he really 
thought that this was going to work. The young agent had admitted that this 
was a bit of a long shot but he had seen some funny ones of Mulder's pay off.
           When lights out had been sounded an hour ago, they had reentered 
Emerald City, figuring that no one would recognize them in the dark.  The two 
men had done a fair imitation of guards circling the unit while really 
keeping their eyes on three cells: Novak, Hoyt, and Wick'. So far the search 
was landing them a big zero. The prisoners all lay still in their beds while 
visions of sugar plums--- or C-Felonies- danced in their heads. Logan would 
have loved to complain to someone except that in his role as a prison guard , 
he wasn't supposed to talk to anyone. 
              He flashed his light past the cell that Novak shared with 
another biker. Nothing, not a goddamn thing. This was...
         Suddenly, he brought his light past the door a second time. He 
thought that he had seen something . His light flashed on Novaks bed.Novak 
was lying in it. Except something seemed wrong. For a moment Novak had 
seemed---- transparent..
           He rapped on the pod wall. The prisoner in the bottom bunk moved. 
Novak didn't even stir.
          Logan yelled up to the guard up front. "Open Novak's cell!" He 
couldn't think of the cell number, and apparently he didn't need to because 
the guard up top seemed to know what he was talking about. The cell door 
suddenly moved under his hand and he hurried into Novak 's pod. 
        "What the fuck are you doing?" snarled the other prisoner in the 
cell. Logan paid no attention his mind was focused on Novak who still lay 
perfectly still in his bed.   Logan looked at the cell and tried to touch the 
prisoner.His hand rested on Novak's shoulder and then went through it.
       "Oh my God." For a split second Logan felt woozy as his entire belief 
system suddenly shifted. With an effort, he mentally pushed it all to the 
back and did something very brave. He determined not to think about it. He 
could reflect on what this did to his universe later. Right now he had to 
focus on making sure that the criminal was caught.
        At that point Torrance ran into the cell. He pushed the other 
prisoner aside and saw what was happening. Logan had time enough to observe 
that the young agent only needed a second to observe what was happening and 
then determine what to do. He pulled out his gun

RESIDENCE OF DIANE WITTLESEY
10:00 P.M.

         Scully was beginning to wonder if Mulder's plan was going to work. 
She had noted that it was based mainly on speculation upon speculation 
instead of any scientific evidence. Basically Mulder was playing a series of 
hunches and was basing them on a lot of sound and fury. She knew that Mulder 
had been right before on a lot of his guesses, but it had been some time 
since he had risked so much on so little.
         When the two of them had left the prison, she had flat out asked 
Mulder if he thought that his plan was going to work. 
        "I don't know Scully but I can't think of any other way that we can 
catch Novak. Its my hope that this will effect him enough to put a rush on 
his schedule."
         "Are you sure that its's even him?"
        Mulder looked at Scully. "Because I saw his eyes when I mentioned 
those murders. They had a glow in them. Like he was satisfied about something 
that he shouldn't have even known about.."
        Scully wasn't quite satisfied with this response but she knew better 
than to argue with Mulder when his mind was made up abut something.   At that 
point Wittlesey had come out of the prison dressed in street clothes.She had 
told them to follow her car and they would go to her home.
The drive was not a long one; like most of the guards Wittlesey did not live 
that far from Oz.
        Things had become somewhat awkward when they had reached Wittlesey's 
home. The corrections officer had a daughter who she had called before they 
had left the prison and had asked her to stay at a neighbors house. Evidently 
Wittlesey was regarding the threat on her life with enough seriousness that 
she wanted her daughter to be safe. She had asked the two agents if they had 
wanted something to eat. Mulder had reluctantly declined. Conversation had 
lagged until Wittlesey had broken the silence.
        "I knew George Novak when he was on the outside." Scully was 
surprised that Wittlesey would volunteer this information. "My ex-husband 
used to run with some bikers. He hung out with guys like Novak and Scott 
Ross."
          "What was he like?"
           "A drunken jizzbag like all the other bikers. I didn't like any of 
his friends. " Wittlesey had paused then as if she was gearing up to answer a 
hard question.  "Do you really believe that all these murders are happening 
because of Scott Ross' death?"
           Mulder had looked startled. "I really couldn't say with any degree 
of certainty what was the motivation behind these crimes."
            "But you believe that all these deaths have been caused because 
of what happened in the riot." Mulder nodded.  Wittlesey had then paused as 
if she was unsure what else to say. "After it happened I was so afraid. 
Afraid that I would get caught. Afraid for my job,my family, my life. But 
while it was really happening to me, I didn't feel a damn thing. No pleasure, 
no relief no sadness , no hatred, nothing. I was just completely numb."
          Scully looked at the prison guard and really saw her for the first 
time. She was only a few years older than Scully but her eyes seemed old and 
tired. Scully wondered about the things that she had gone through in her 
life: marriage, divorce, raising a child, working at a high stress job, being 
involved in the riot, a killing. For the first time she wondered why anyone 
would go through such horrible things and yet still have the inner strength 
to stay with the job.
         Mulder in the meantime was focused on the present. "Miss Wittlesey, 
are you saying that you killed Scott Ross?" With that remark, the correction 
officer seemed to realize that she had returned to the present.
        "I've said all that I'm going to say about that." She then got up and 
walked into the other room. "I'm going to call my daughter."
        Mulder got up and followed her. Scully was about to comment that she 
thought he was carrying security over her a bit far and then shrugged her 
shoulders and followed him. While she moved, she looked at her watch..
"Mulder its nearly ten.  Do you really think that this guy Novak is going to 
strike tonight?"
           Mulder had started to reply when suddenly he stopped speaking. 
          "Mulder?" He held up his hand to her. "What's wrong?"
          "Scully, did you just feel something?" She was about to reply with 
an automatic 'no' when suddenly she fell still. For some reason that she 
couldn't quite identify, she felt as if their was an unexplained presence in 
the room with them. She wanted to shru g it off as just nerves,but if Mulder 
felt it too.....
              "Wittlesey!" Mulder screamed. He pulled his gun and pushed the 
CO. For a split second Scully wondered if this was nothing more then nerves 
then she saw ...it.
             A vague outline of what appeared to be a man. He didn;t seem to 
be a solid figure. He seemed to be flickering in and out like he was a 
television picture fading in and out. Only one part of the man seemed solid: 
his left hand. To be perfectly accurate the long thin blade that she saw in 
it.
        The man moved like lightning. In a matter of a second, he was on top 
of Mulder and Wittlesey. Scully pulled out her own gun. "Drop the weapon." 
she yelled. The figure did not even respond as if he had heard her... which 
he might not have if he wasn't  solid. Instead the figure ran towards her 
partner.
        She fired her weapon as carefully as she could and the bullet went 
right into the figures chest.... and then through it . Scully caught her 
breath. She knew that she had aimed for his chest. The bullet didn't even 
seem to phase him. For a moment she was perplexed: how was she supposed s to 
stop a killer who could take a bullet without even a glimmer of pain?  The 
moment of distraction lasted until she heard Mulder give out a scream of 
agony.. Novak---- if this was really him--- had just stabbed at Wittlesey by 
attacking Mulder Her partner let out a scream in pain. Novak paused then 
moved again.
Suddenly the tone of Mulder's voice changed. Now he was yelling. "His hand, 
Scully. Shoot at his hands!"
            For a moment Scully wasn't sure that she had heard Mulder 
correctly if she couldn't shoot him in the chest what good would one in the 
hands do?  Then she saw that Novak was about to lower his knife again. 
Without thinking she fired at the phantom's hands. This time she heard 
another scream of pain.
         She looked up at the phantom. Novak was screaming in agony and 
Scully could understand why .The bullet had hit the blade of the shank and 
had driven it in forcefully into his palm. Scully had just a second to 
observe this before the phantom figure of Novak flickered out and 
disappeared. She then ran over to Wittlesey and her partner.

EMERALD CITY
SAME TIME.

          Danny wasn't entirely sure what was going on. He had heard Logan's 
scream to open Novak's cell and he had run there as fast as he could; 
suddenly feeling that in his gut there was nothing that he could do. He had 
reached the cell of Novak and found Logan in there and Novak not. Logan had 
pulled his gun and yelled for Novak to stop what he was doing. Though he 
wasn't sure he had thought that Novak had turned to him and smiled calmly. 
Danny wasn't sure what they were going to do. The question that he had never 
put into words in front of Mulder---- how do you stop an invisible 
killer?---- now plagued him again. How cou;ld they stop Novak?
        Then suddenly a blood-curdling scream filled the cell.  Abruptly the 
figure of Novak which had grown transparent suddenly became solid. Novak was 
screaming. "Get it out! AHHHH Fuck, get it out!" As Danny neared the cell he 
could see why. The shank that Novak had been holding in his hand
had somehow been driven into the prisoners palm. He wasn't sure but he thought
 that he could see powder marks from a bullet wound.
         Then Logan (who was quickly getting used to unexplained phenomena) 
had grabbed Novak by the shoulder and pulled him on to the ground. Novak was 
still screaming bloody murder (he mused over his choice of phrase and decided 
that it wasn't as ironic as it seemed at first.) Danny recovered his presence 
of mind and shouted out a wasted effort because at that moment three other 
guards had now assembled themselves outside the cell. Danny yelled to one of 
them: "Somebody get this asshole to the infirmary."
         "And be careful with him! We've got a feeling that he has a lot that 
he wants to say." said Logan. The guards quickly ran in and grabbed Novak. 
Apparently the prisoner didn't have a lot of energy to fight ; he went with 
the guards without putting up a fight. Perhaps he was to busy yelling.
        Logan turned to Danny.  With the crisis now passed, he seemed to be 
going through some kind of shock."I don't believe I ... He was there and then 
he wasn't.. How did he..." Finally he shook his head. "What the fuck 
happened, Torrance?"
         Danny looked at the policeman for a minute and then shook his head. 
"I don't know,but I'Ve got the worst feeling that Mulder's theory was right 
after all."

EPILOGUE
STATEN ISLAND SQUADROOM
THREE DAYS LATER

        The phone at Mike Logan's desk rang. Logan sighed. In the days since 
he had been back at his job, he had been having trouble adjusting to walking 
a beat again. As hard as it had been working with the feds, he had felt like 
a real cop again, at least for a short while.
         "Officer Logan, this is Agent Torrance." He perked up a little to 
hear the familiar voice. Of the three agents he had worked with, Torrance had 
been the only one to treat him as an equal.
         "How did you get this number?" he asked.
         "I'm with the FBI. I can learn almost anything. " The voice paused. 
"I just talked to an assistant of the Attorney General. He's been in a 
conference with the D.A.'s in Staten Island, Manhattan and New Jersey."
        This had come as no surprise to Logan. After the capture of George 
Novak, there had been a huge circle jerk as to on whose authority Novak 
fell,. The people at Oz had wanted to simply get rid of the prisoner who had 
caused all the trouble. Scully and Mulder had argued that the feds should 
take possession of the prisoner. Logan had put up an argument that he had 
committed a murder in Staten Island and should be the property of New York. 
Mulder had countered that since Novak had never actually left the prison to 
commit the murders, and that possession should be a matter for the Feds..In 
the end Logan had left the matter to the attorneys, mainly because his 
lieutenant had told him that it was a matter for the lawyers.
          "What are they going to charge him with?"
          "The attempted murder of Diane Wittlesey and four counts of 
conspiracy to commit murder."Novak had  denied that he had been involved in 
any of the other murders, but had been forced to confess when the other 
bikers (who had heard what had happened) admitted that Novak had come to them 
with the plan to get even. They fervently denied that they had been able to 
project.themselves.  Logan thought that they were lying about their degree of 
involvement but there was not nearly enough evidence to convince the 
attorneys that they were involved.
          "Has Novak said anything about how he can do.... What he does?" 
Even after what he had seen in the cell, Logan was still having a hard time 
getting his mind around the concept that a man could somehow teleport himself 
from one place to another.
         "No. The most that we have been able to gather is that he learnt the 
ability while he in another prison upstate. He claims that all he had to do 
is think of a place and for a little while he can be there.."
          That explained a few things that they had found in Novak's cell. 
Somehow he had gotten a hold of pictures of the homes of the men in the 
National Guard as well as the homes of some of the guards at Oz. The pictures 
had been found in his mattress.
         "Do you have any idea who his accomplice on the outside was?"
         "No and they don't know if they will be able to get any more 
information out of him." Since his arrest Novak had been very tight lipped.. 
After they removed the shank from his hand, they had gotten very little 
information from him. He had even denied attacking Wittlesey despite the fact 
that Agent Mulder had insisted that he had seen him. (Logan wasn't entirely 
sure Mulder was telling the truth as his account of what happened had changed 
from his inception at the beginning. Novak had refused to even explain why he 
had tried to kill Wittlesey, only saying "The bitch had it coming.":
          "I don't think we're ever going to get the complete information as 
to how and why Novak took it upon himself to exact this kind of revenge on 
these people." He sighed. 
         "Well, at least we stopped Novak." Novak had been transferred to 
solitary confinement since his release from the hospital.
          "How do we know for sure that we stopped him? Everyone thought that 
he could be stopped when he was arrested for the first time. And who knows 
how many prisoners that he managed to teach this ability to? Who knows what 
kind of Pandora's box that this guy may have opened?"
        Logan tried to get himself worked up about the possibility that maybe 
Torrance was right. He found that he didn't want to think about it. "Agent 
Torrance, we did everything that we could to stop this guy. The case is 
closes. I think its best that we try to move on.
         There was another long pause as Torrance thought this over. "I guess 
you're right. We've done everything we can do for this case. I guess the only 
thing left to do is to file the paperwork and move on to the next one." He 
paused again. "Anyway that wasn;t the only reason that I called."
         "What else did you want?"
          "Everything got so hectic the last few days. I just wanted to thank 
you for helping me and my partners with this case. WE never could have 
figured it out without you."   
          Logan was surprised. It had been along time since he had been 
congratulated for helping anyone on a case. He was surprised to find that the 
gratitude really did mean something. "Thank you for saying so, Agent T... 
Danny."
          "You're welcome. I hope that we get a chance to work together again 
sometime."
       " That would be nice." He hung up the phone.For a moment, he just sat 
at his desk, savoring the feeling of being told that he had done his job 
well.Then he got up and walked over to Yood's desk. He thought that it was 
time for him to get back out on the street again.

AUTHORS NOTES
When I told my friends that I was going to attempt to do a crossover piece 
between the fantasy driven world of The X-Files and the ultra-real world of 
Oz, there were some people who said I was crazy. Well it took me more than a 
month to get from start to finish but I got it done. I showed them who was 
crazy. Isn't that right, Mr. Fibble? (Left eyes twitches randomly several 
times)
I don't know how good a job I did so please send appreciation, insults or 
anything to DavidB226Morris@aol.com

I was originally going to have the role of the New York cop played by John 
Doggett. But then I thought that the role should be played by a man who for 
five years epitomized what a New York cop is. Mike Logan is a New York City 
cop in a way that John Doggett will never be. (I heard a rumor that they 
considered casting Chris Noth to play Doggett. They should have done it. That 
would have brought in thousand of fans and might have helped people get over 
the fact that David Duchovny was leaving) I may have overstepped my 
boundaries by putting Logan in the story, To those fans of Law & Order, I 
apologize for my portrayal of him.

The following characters belong to Barry Levinson, Tom Fontana and Jim 
Finnerty.: Leo Glynn, Tim McManus, Diane Wittlesey, Sister Peter Marie 
Remondo, Dr. Gloria Nathan, Father Ray Mukada, Miguel Alvarez, Simon Adebisi, 
Ryan O'Reilly, Kareem Said,Bob Rebadow, Vern Schillinger and Jazz Hoyt. I 
apologize to those fans of Oz for not including Chris Keller and only putting 
Augustus Hill and Tobias Beecher in small cameos. For those of you who wanted 
to see slash fic, I'm sorry but I don't write that kind of fiction.The 
character of George Novak is mine and mine alone.