Title : Fides Procuro III : Pondera Somnia
Author : Kelly Moreland
Archive : Sure! Just let me know where
Spoilers : None really, but I would suggest reading the other
parts first.
Rating : R for disturbing images.
Category : MSR, M/S/other friendship, a little bit of
everything..
Summary : Colonization/Apocalyptic hell
Feedback : k_a_moreland@hotmail.com
Disclaimer : CC owns his. I own mine. Never the two shall meet.
Except on these pages....
Authors note : This picks up where Fides Procuro II ends.
Heartfelt thanks to Plausible Deniability for the assistance with
the title. I do not speak Latin, and the translator program I was
using gives the words, but not the nuisances of the language.
PD, you are a redwood among sprouts.  :-)


Fides Procuro III : Pondera Somnia

by Kelly Moreland


It took almost a week for Scully to find a boat that she was
satisfied with. Mulder was still objecting to the whole idea,
even though it was the most logical course of action. The trio
had spent the last four days going from marina to marina looking
at boats, before finally finding this one in Annapolis.
"I think it's perfect." Scully said, looking over the forty foot
Beneteau with a critical eye. Mulder turned to Kari, standing
silently at the rail next to him.
"Leave it to me to fall for the daughter of a sailor, when I get
seasick on rough ferry rides."
"Perfect Mulder logic to me." the blonde replied, before walking
up the short gangplank to where Scully stood.
"Scully, I don't know squat about boats, so what makes this one
any different the other thirty million or so we've looked at the
last few days?" She asked with a good natured grin.
"Draft, Shape, layout, sail rigging. They are close to the one my
father used to have, there for, I'm more comfortable with it."
"Works for me." Kari laughed, not understanding one single thing
her friend pointed out. She ventured into the cabin below, to
take a look around.
Scully turned to look at Mulder, still standing on the dock.
"Aren't you coming up?" She called.
"Yeah. I'm coming." He straightened up from the rail where he'd
been leaning, and stepped up the gangplank.
"Are you sure about this?" He asked, looking around the deck of
the boat with trepidation.
"You don't trust me?" She asked, folding her arms over her chest,
and pinning him with a sharp look.
"Scully, you know I trust you. I'm just out of my element here.
Maybe I am the control freak you once accused me of being, but
all this makes me nervous."
"Well, if you still feel that way by the time we reach New York,
we'll leave the boat. Take some other way back to DC."
Mulder's face softened as he looked at her, standing on the deck
of the boat. Her hair glowed in the sunlight, a shade whose
definition was somewhere between copper and fire. That suits her,
he thought to himself, electric and fiery.
"What are you grinning at?" She asked, snapping him from his
reverie.
"You." He answered simply.
"What is it?" She automatically assumed something was wrong.
"Nothing. Just enjoying how beautiful you are, before the moment
is stolen away." At that moment, he was an open book to her.
Nothing hidden, nothing unsaid, all his thoughts written on his
face.
"You've got the heart of poet, when you let it show. You know
that Mulder?"
He smiled and looked away. When he glanced back, the mask was
back in place.
He couldn't let his soul lay bare for very long, not even to her
though she saw it more than anyone else ever had or would.
He looked at all the boats docked at the harbor, then back to his
partner.
"You aren't worried about sailing this thing with no navigation
system? No GPS?"
"Nope. All we have to do is keep the coast in sight, and sail
north till we see a statue of a real tall lady holding a torch."
He shot her a look that said, very funny.
"Just relax Mulder." She chuckled. "You might even enjoy it."
Kari came back up from the cabin.
"So what do we do now?" She asked, sitting down at the cockpit
table.
"Lay in supplies. That shouldn't take us but a day or so, using
the pick up truck. Then set out."
"Ah man." Mulder whined. "I'm going to have to leave my truck
again?"
Both the women laughed, which was what he'd planned.

Scully was right about her time frame. The next afternoon they
had the boat stocked, using the third cabin as an extra storage
room. Kari had the fore ward cabin with it's twin beds, leaving
the two of them with the larger master suite at the stern. Scully
suggested they spend that night on the boat, in order to leave
early the next morning. Her real intention was to let Mulder get
used to the feel of it before they actually put out to sea.
"What exactly are we looking for in New York?" Kari asked as they
all sat around the galley table.
"I'm not sure yet." Mulder said, he had a feeling they would know
the minute they got there.
"It's more or less an expedition." Scully replied.
"Personally, I'll be glad to be away from the city. Breathe some
fresh air for a while." It wasn't something they talked about, by
unspoken agreement, but the smell in the city was getting worse
with each day that passed. It was late June, with full summer not
far away. In a few more weeks, it would be unbearably hot
indoors, and to vile to have the windows open.
Death had become a silent partner in their lives. They passed it
on the street almost every day. It was a constant. Kari didn't
know, but Scully had told Mulder that the while they were apart
she had cleaned out what few bodies there were in their office
building. Including AD Skinner. She had simply dragged them down
to the parking garage, laying them out in a row.
Last night after making love to her, he'd curled himself against
her back. Something they both liked, and she'd asked about what
he'd seen on the trip. He was reluctant, but he'd told her about
the Kansas City terminal. He knew that he had a tendency to lock
things away, and bear his burdens alone. It was a habit she was
trying to break him of.
Kari excused herself early, and went to her cabin, leaving the
two of them still seated at the table.
"Are you getting more comfortable with this idea?" Scully asked.
"I'll let you know tomorrow, after we aren't safely tied to the
dock."
"You'll be fine." She smiled softly, reaching up to brush her
fingers through his hair, just above his ear.
Mulder closed his eyes for a second, knowing he would never get
tired of her touch. For years, they had played cat and mouse. To
keep his emotions in check, he'd told himself that the
forbiddance of it was what made it so sensual.
Lately he'd discovered that he had been lying to himself all that
time.
Now that she wasn't just his partner, and wasn't off limits,
nothing had changed. In fact, the feelings he had for her had
grown stronger with each day. Like a muscle that had become weak
from lack of use, but was strong and healthy once again. That was
how his heart felt. Strong and healthy and complete.
"Sleepy?" she asked, seeing his eyes closed.
"Not in the least." he smiled devilishly, his eyes still closed.
"But I am ready to go to bed. Are you?" They way he said it made
it clear that sleep wasn't what he had in mind.
"I think so." She smiled.
He stood up, taking her hand and lead her to their cabin.



Scully handled the sailboat like a pro, even Mulder had to admit,
she knew exactly what she was doing. He was doing a lot better
than he thought he would. Chesapeake Bay wasn't the Atlantic
ocean Scully had reminded him cheerfully, when he mentioned it.
Kari on the other hand, had fallen in love immediately.
By the time they sailed up the Hudson river and docked at the New
York port authority, Mulder was even at ease.
They had agreed to split into two teams the next morning, Scully
and Kari together, Mulder alone.
"Since we have no way to keep in touch with each other, we'll
meet back here at noon. See if we've had any luck." Mulder
dictated for the third time.
"Yeah, yeah, we got it already." Kari grumbled goodnaturedly.
Mulder leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Scullys forehead,
before he said
"Be careful."
"You too." She replied back.
"A Kodak moment, and me, without a camera." Kari sighed
wistfully.
"Kari?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
Kari blinked at Scully. "Can I push him out of the boat on the
way home? Please?"
"Jesus you two." Scully laughed, rolling her eyes. She grabbed
Kari's arm, and lead her away, as Mulder went another direction.
"You know it's all in fun, Dana." Kari said a moment later as
they walked along.
"Of course I know. If a day passed that you two didn't tease each
other about something, I would think one of you was sick."
"Not trying to be nosy, but you two look very happy." Kari
observed casually.
Scully said no words, but her smile was answer enough.
"It's strange." Scully said, after they had walked for a few more
minutes.
"What?"
"For years we've worked together, been through so much. And I
know that I've loved him for a long time. They way you love
someone who you know will always be there. No matter the
circumstances, or the cost, if I needed him all I would have had
to do was ask. I was content with that."
"That alone is something a lot of people never get to
experience." Kari said.
"But now it's deeper. It's the same, but it's magnified.
Sometimes, it's a little awkward."
"I think it's perfectly what it's supposed to be."
Scully looked at her, perplexed. Kari laughed a little at her
expression.
"You really don't see it, do you?"
"I guess not." Scully shrugged.
"You finish each others sentences. You have entire conversations
within a glance. If you were any closer, you'd share the same
skin. That kind of intimacy, with anyone, would have to be
awkward at times. I'm not sure if I could handle being that in
tune with someone."
"There have been times.." Scully trailed off.
"I can imagine. If I had an off day, at the same time my life
mate had an off day. Could get ugly."
Scully didn't let it show, but the phrase life mate struck a cord
in her. It was one thing that had been bothering her. A
scientist, by nature, categorized things. The turn in their
relationship couldn't easily be categorized, and it unsettled her
a little. She had always detested the term significant other, and
boyfriend sounded outright absurd. But life mate, that suited
them.
They walked on in silence, still several blocks from their
destination.


Hours later, they were back at the boat, waiting on Mulder. He
was late.
"Do you think we should go look for him?"
"Let's give him a little more time." Scully replied, watching the
docks.
"With Mulder," She said, her eyes still scanning the pier. "It's
most likely that he got distracted, and left a little late to
meet us."
"He does that alot?"
"He's been known to go off on tangents."
"Don't you mean tirades?"
Scully cut her eyes at the other woman, and grinned.
"Those too." She turned her attention back to the pier, noticing
a pair of figures moving toward them. One of them was limping.
"That's him. I'll get the first aid kit." Kari said, disappearing
down into the cabin, as Scully raced down the gangplank.
Mulder was limped down the dock. As Scully ran to them, she could
see that his jeans were torn, and his right calf was bandaged.
"Mulder what happened?" She asked, sparing a glance at the tall,
dark haired man standing beside her partner.
"I got attacked by a dog in central park." Mulder grimaced.
Kari ran up carrying their over sized first aid kit.
"I'm alright." Mulder assured them. "Scully, Kari, meet Doctor
Hunt Riley. Let's go back to the boat, and I'll tell you what
happened."
Kari wasn't so sure that he was alright. His jeans looked awfully
bloody to her. She was even less sure about his new friend. She
had seen some big men, but this guy was huge. He stood at least
four inches taller than Mulder, and could have easily been a
linebacker for the Jets.
Scully slipped her arm around Mulder's waist, walking with him
back to the boat with the other two following.
"I was cutting through Central Park on my way back here, when
this mutt." He spat the word viscously. "Came up and sank it's
friggin teeth into my leg and wouldn't let go. Doctor Riley heard
me, and came to help me out." He explained, while Scully gently
unwrapped his leg, looking at the deep gashes there. She could
see they had already been cleaned with betadine, and the dressing
was good. She changed the bandage anyway, and made a mental note
to give Mulder a shot of antibiotics later.
"Medical Doctor?" She asked, without looking up.
"Biophysicist actually." He answered, his voice deep and rich.
"I think we found what we were looking for." Mulder said, getting
Scullys attention.
"Doctor Riley works for the Genetic Information Research
Institute, on east thirty-seventh street. I think you should hear
what he has to say." Mulder explained.

They sat and listened as Doctor Riley told his story. He had the
weekend off, but decided at the last minute to pick up some
papers that he was working on. When he got to the GIRI Center, he
was amazed to see men in army type fatigues cleaning out the
offices. His supervisor was there, and told him to stay out of
the way, and let them do their job.
" 'Go home Doctor Riley. You shouldn't be here.' Which was
strange, because Mike never called me Doctor, We have... Were
friends for six years. He kept looking at me, and then at my
office. Then I realized what he was saying. My office was next. I
went and got the file off my desk. I had to hide it, so I tucked
it in the waistband of my pants, under my shirt. I picked up a
jacket that I kept there, and carried it out. Like that was what
I came for. I almost got away with it before I was stopped." Hunt
paused, as Mulder interrupted.
"Tell Scully about the man who stopped you."
Hunt shrugged, "I'd never seen him before, he was older, wore a
trench coat, and smoked like a chimney."
A strange look passed between the two partners.
"Can't say I cared for his attitude very much. He had two of his
men escort me over to where Mike Hawkins was standing. Anytime I
tried to ask Mike what was going on, they threatened us. I'd had
enough, and was about to invite them to make good on their
threats, when they packed everything up, and just left."
He paused, taking a breath as a look of sadness settled over his
face.
"Mike told me to go home. To spend some time with my family. He
was really upset, and I thought it was about the files, and the
research. I didn't understand then what it all meant. I do now.
He knew this was coming. The next day.." His voice cracked a
little. "The next day, for all intents and purposes, my life
ended."
"But you got out with the file?" Scully asked.
"Yes. They hadn't reached my office yet, and they didn't frisk
me. It's at home. But it's only one file out of the entire
project. It's pieces, fragments of the whole picture. I can't
even make sense of it. They never let us have all the data at one
time. We couldn't even talk about what we were working on. Very
secretive." he answered.
"I'd like to see it anyway, if that's all right." Scully asked.
"Sure. I can go get it now, if you want." he said, rising from
his seat.
"Yeah. " Mulder nodded. "I'd like to see it too."
"Ok." Hunt said, standing by the walkway. "I'll be back soon."
As soon as he was gone, Mulder turned to Scully.
"CGB Spender clears out a genetic research facility the day
before all hell breaks loose. A little odd, isn't it Scully?" He
sounded excited.
Kari sat quitely in the background, listening, but not
understanding.
"More than a little odd." she mused.
"So we came here to find him?" Kari spoke for the first time.
"I think so." Mulder said thoughtfully. "And we wouldn't have, if
it weren't for a stray dog. How's that for ironic?"
"That reminds me." Scully said, rising from her chair. "I need to
give you a shot for infection. Come on."
"You know I hate needles."
"You'd hate the infection even worse. Trust me." She didn't
mention rabies. It was rare in this day and age, but she would
have to watch him for it.
He grumbled a little more, but followed her into the cabin.

When Doctor Ripley returned, he handed Scully the thick file
folder, and she opened it with Mulder peering over her shoulder.
He was right. It didn't make sense. Some parts of the data had
even been blacked out. It reminded her and Mulder both of
declassified files they had seen before. Her eyes scanned down
the page.
LOC US HUMORFT ;DEFINITION HUMAN MRNA (KIAA0033) FOR ORF, PARTIAL
CDS. ; FRAGMENT 1829 - 1398 D26067  SUB DFA
The next entry read,
LOC US HUMATPSG ;DEFINITION HUMAN GENE FOR ATP SYNTHASE GAMMA-
SUBUNIT, COMPLETE CDS. ; FRAGMENT 20472 - 20902 D16561 SUB TRC
It went on, page after page. She looked up at Hunt.
"What were you doing with this?" She asked.
"Looking for matches in the fragment codes."
"Ouch." She winced, flipping through the pages. "There must be
five hundred entries here."
"It's a whole new definition of tedious." He smiled.
"Kari?" Mulder called out over his shoulder.
"Yeah?"
"What's your middle name?" Dana looked at him curiously, so did
everyone else.
"Why?"
"Cause I want a new pet name for you. C'mon what is it?"
"Michelle."
When she answered Mulder thumped the folder with his finger.
"Bingo." He said.
"What is it?" Scully asked.
"I was suspicious when I saw this."
Mulder pointed out an entry, as Hunt leaned in to look.
LOC US HUMKSIIC3E ;DEFINITION HUMAN GENE FOR FIBROBLAST GROWTH
FACTOR RECEPTOR. ; FRAGMENT 19 - 424 D11370 SUB DKS
"And this." He pointed to another at the bottom of the page.
LOC US HUMDAO ;DEFINITION HUMAN D-AMINO-ACID OXIDASE GENE,
PARTIAL SEQUENCE. ; FRAGMENT 2352 - 2783 D11370 SUB FWM
"That's why I asked Kari." He pointed again.
LOC US HUMRCC1 ;DEFINITION HUMAN RCC1 GENE, COMPLETE CDS. ;
FRAGMENT 20817 - 21249 D00591 SUB KMC
"My god." Scully breathed. "We're all in here."
"What's your middle name Hunt?" Mulder asked.
"My middle name is Hunt. Thomas is my first name." His eyes moved
over the page.
"There." He pointed.
LOC US HUMORFT ;DEFINITION HUMAN RCC1 GENE, COMPLETE CDS. ;
FRAGMENT 17625 - 21249 D00591 SUB THR
"I didn't volunteer to be part of this project." Hunt said with a
disbelieving laugh.
"None of us did." Mulder replied, his eyes still scanning the
page.
"Is this why we all survived?" Kari asked, leaning on the table.
"I don't now about that, but you and Doctor Ripley have a match."
"So do you and I." Scully commented.
"What does that mean?" Kari asked.
"I don't even know that." Hunt shrugged. "All I was told to do
was find matches in the fragment codes, and then turn it back in.
This is how the project was run. You do a small piece of
something that makes no sense, then hand it over to someone
else." He sighed in disgust. "I can tell you gene specific facts
about a strand, but fragments like this are almost useless."
"They did a good job of keeping you in the dark." Scully agreed.
"But it paid the big bucks, so no one really asked why it was so
chaotic to work on."
Mulder was drumming his fingers on the table, still reading the
file.
"So, did you by chance have another center in Philly?" He asked
turning to look at Hunt.
"Not that I know of. Sorry."
"Great. So what do we look for there?" Kari chuckled.
Mulder turned to Hunt.
"Doctor Ripley, we could probably use your help in solving this.
Interested?"
"What exactly are you trying to solve? I'm not sure I
understand."
"None of us do. But I believe Mulder is right. We are all keys to
this puzzle, or at least have some part in it." Scully commented.
"What else do you have to do? Stay in a city of the dead?" Kari
asked, perhaps a little unkindly.
Hunt considered this for a moment.
"It's not like I have a board meeting to attend, is it?" He said
with a degree of sadness.
"We could use your help." Scully told him.
"Alright. I'll go. You have enough room?"
"I think we can manage." Scully smiled.
"We can leave in the morning. Whenever you are ready." Mulder
added.
"I'll pack a few things this afternoon. Meet you in the morning.
I've got a few good byes to say."
"That's fine." Scully said gently. They all understood about
saying good byes. Ripley left, and the three of them sat down
around the table.
Kari let out a long sigh.
"We can put him in my room, I can sleep in the galley. The booth
there converts into a bed, right?"
"Or we could move the supplies around, make room for him in
there." Scully thought aloud.
"With as much as we packed, where would we put it?" Kari
countered.
"You could just share a room with him." Mulder leered
"Yeah. And purple monkeys could fly out of my ass. No thanks.
I'll take the galley berth."

In a world stripped bare of modern standards, life can fall into
a much simpler routine. Early to bed, early to rise becomes a
habit more of necessity than anything else. After sunset you have
little to occupy your mind. Conversation, or your own thoughts
were the most common options.Kari had chosen the latter, and sat
on the deck of the boat, looking at New York illuminated by
nothing but moonlight. It was eerie, and more than a little sad.
The city that never sleeps, now never woke. The skyline was
visible only because of the light of the moon. Without it, the
tall buildings would have only been shadows in a shadowy world.
She wished she had taken the time to see it once before the world
changed.
So much for tomorrows.


They had left New York and rode the Hudson river down to lower
bay and the Atlantic. Hunt Riley had arrived at the pier early,
and much to Scully's pleasure, he was experienced at sailing.
Although Kari and Mulder were both becoming more confident with
handling the craft, they both needed her watchful eye. She was
glad he had joined them for a lot of reasons. For one, she was a
pathologist, she understood the basics of bio genetics, but it
wasn't her field. Another thing that all of them enjoyed, Hunt
liked to fish. Fresh black fin tuna was a nice change from their
usual dehydrated or canned food diet.
She was at the ships wheel the afternoon of the second day,
thinking these things when Mulder came up from down below.
"Hey Scully." he smiled, sitting down beside her on the double
seat.
"How's the leg?" she asked. She'd been keeping a close watch on
it, concerned about infection. The white bandage wrapped around
his calf, contrasted sharply to the dark tan he was developing on
his legs.
"Feeling pretty good. Want me to take over for a while?"
"No, I'm fine. But I'd enjoy the company." she smiled back at
him.
"Scully, I've been thinking." He said, as the wind brushed his
hair across his brow.
"That can be dangerous. Dare I ask about what?"
"Krycek."
"And?"
"He told Kari he was one of the good guys. Doesn't sound like
him, does it?" He looked over at her, his eyes hidden behind a
pair of ray bans. Not that she needed to see them to know what he
was thinking.
"No, but he's been known to switch sides at the drop of a hat.
Any hat, any where in the world." Mulder laughed softly at her
words.
"So you think he might be setting us up?" she asked.
"I hope not. But I can't rule it out."
"I've thought about that more than once." she admitted.
"I've been thinking about something else too. And I want to ask
you a question." he paused before continuing. "Does it bother you
that we don't say the words?"
"We've never said the words, we've never needed too."
"But now that things are, different. Do you miss the words?"
"Mulder, I don't feel like the words are necessary. They are just
words, over used ones at that. The emotion is there, the words
don't have to be."
"I just want you to understand that.."
"You have a problem with the words. I know."
He watched his partner for a second. Sometimes it was frightening
how well she knew him.
"Do you know why?" he asked.
"I think I do."
"Tell me."
"Everyone you have ever loved in your life has either stabbed you
in the back, or been taken from you somehow. Anyone you ever say
I love you to, hurts you, or disappears."
He reached out, and gently turned her face toward him.
"So if I don't say those three words, you're safe."
"I'm not going anywhere Mulder."
"Just because I don't tell you, doesn't mean that I don't feel
it. It hits me sometimes, when I wake up in the mornings, and you
are still laying there asleep. When I see you look up at me, and
give me that smile that is mine, and mine alone. When we are
making love. I always feel it, I just don't want you to feel
cheated because I don't say it."
"I've never felt cheated by you. Not in any way."
She felt his hand, strong and gentle against her shoulder blade.
The heat from his palm radiating through her shirt. His
fingertips gently caressing the tiny scar at the base of her
neck.
"Well." She said her tone thoughtful. "Except maybe when you
ditched me all those times. I hated that."
"I never have apologized for that, have I?"
"Nope."
"I'm sorry Scully. I can promise that I'll never ditch you
again."
"You'd better not." she grinned.

After going through the phone book in Philly, they found two
genetic research centers, one of them Hunt said was affiliated
with the GIRI center in New York.
"Then that's where we start." Mulder stated.
"You sure you're up to the walk?" Kari asked doubtfully. "It's at
least three miles."
"The walk, yes. A foot race, I think not." He answered dryly.
"Now let's go."

Late June in Philly is warm, add to it the smell of four million
decaying bodies and the constant hum of flies, and it's more like
hell on earth than the city of brotherly love.
"It didn't seem this bad in New York." Hunt stated, breathing
through his mouth, rather than his nose.
"The warmer it gets, the worse it'll be." Kari muttered through
the hand she held over her face.
"Makes me miss being on the boat." Mulder said with a shake 
his head. "Bet you never thought you'd hear me say that." he
winked at Scully.
She just shook her head.
"If it's this bad here, what's it going to be like when we get to
Atlanta?" Kari mused.
It wasn't a question anybody wanted to answer.
The Palmer Institute Genetic Study was an imposing brick
complex with more than 30 separate laboratories. Hunt and Scully
looked over the directory, and chose the three most likely places
to start.
In the first room, they found nothing. Literally. The room was
bare.
"That's a little odd." Hunt said.
"Let's check the others." Scully replied, walking quickly down
the hall to the next room on their list.
It wasn't empty. They the pains taking process looking through
files and papers for anything relating to Hunts file.
After an hour Mulder stood up and stretched. Picking up the
folder he was looking through he walked idly around the room to
work the kinks out his muscles.
"Scully, take a look at this." he called. She left what she was
doing, and walked to where he stood. He held the folder loosely
in one hand.
"Call me crazy, but I don't think they died EMP." He said,
gazing out a large glass window into a courtyard.
Scully followed his line sight.
Laying in an enclosed courtyard a dozen or so bodies formed a
ragged line on the grass. On several them, the bullet holes
were plainly visible.
"It looks like they were executed before a firing squad."
Hunt and Kari joined them.
"Jesus." Hunt whispered.
They found a door that lead to the courtyard, and Scully, having
found both masks and gloves squatted down to examine one the
bodies.
"They were definitely executed." She called, the rest the
group had stayed a little further back. Mulder was picking up
spent cartridges from the ground.
"Looks like m16's." He said. "Standard Military issue, I'll bet."
He turned to Hunt.
"You said the men that cleared out the files were wearing
fatigues?"
"Yes. Army, I think."
Kari turned away and faced the wall, hugging her arms over her
chest.
"Are you ok?" Hunt asked, stepping up behind her.
"I'm alive. Anything else is negotiable." She gave a humorless
laugh.
"Go back inside." He urged quietly.
"It doesn't matter. I'll see them in my nightmares. I always do."
She walked away without looking back.

Scully collected several the ID badges before they returned.
Finding a company directory in a desk drawer, she identified each
persons field.
"Gene Therapy, Bio genetics, Virology, Biophysics."
"Enough college tuition money there to buy a small island."
Mulder remarked.
"The one that stumps me is the Virologist." Hunt muttered,
looking at the ID badges laid out on the desk.
"I think it fits right in." Mulder said.
"I don't understand why they executed them, if they new the
colonization was coming." Scully said, looking up at him. "What
was the point?"
"I don't think they knew till the last minute that it was coming.
I think they were caught off guard. That's why they stole all the
files, they've hidden them somewhere. They killed the scientists,
to make sure they couldn't tell about the cure."
"A cure to what?" Hunt asked.
"A viral agent known as Purity. A little something to help our
off world friends take over. There was a group secretly working
on a cure."
"So how did our initials end up in all this?" Kari looked at him.
"And why are they examining different fragments our DNA,
looking for matches." Hunt wondered.
"Why do you look for matches in DNA?" Mulder turned to him.
"Only two reasons. Comparison, or splicing. Comparison doesn't
make any sense. These fragments are all from different areas 
the DNA strand."
"But, in theory, it is possible to combine matching fragments to
create a new strand."
"In theory, yes." Hunt agreed, "but it's never been attempted."
"Not that we know anyway." Mulder replied.



Fini~

for now