textfiles/sf/XFILES/a5

Scully looked around for Mulder, he was nowhere to be seen.  "Mulder - come
ON!" she yelled ---- dead silence.  A chill swept over her, she knew that a
delerious person could do something to get themselves killed and never know
it.  She persuaded a reluctant Dr. Hellegren to organize a search party.

Mulder's disapperance had started innocently enough.  One does not announce to
strangers that you need to go behind the nearest batch of trees to relieve
yourself - he would be back before they knew it.  After doing his thing, her
turned around to stare right into the eyes of the same teenage girl he had
seen on ORCA.  He was very annoyed at having been watched.  "Don't you know it
is rude to watch?" he said sharply  "Yes, I do.  You are sick, I know of
medicine."  Her sincerity caught him off guard.  He easily forgot his anger
through his allergic fever.  "I should tell the others ----"  "No - you come
with me - NOW!".  He stumbled along - now he was the slow one - his long legs
were no help at all.  She moved with grace through the grabbing thorny vines
that were cutting his legs.  In ten minutes that seemed like 10 hours to him,
he found himself back at the fresh water lake - in a secluded grove.  He was
losing consciousness ------

Scully had ample opportunity to talk to Dr. Hellegren as the search
progressed.  She was slightly suspicious of him, and would not reveal the
existance of the spacecraft.  She had learned that much from Mulder:  trust no
one.  He was not easily fooled, but was unaware that they had actually located
the source of the transmission.  As far as he knew - they had only searched on
land.  Scully carefully guided them away from their ant and roach infested
camp - so he would not see skin diving gear.  When the afternoon thunderstorm
forced them to abandon the search for Mulder - he invted Scully to come to his
reasearch vessel, where she was finally able to dry out, wash off, and enjoy
his hospitality.  But she was worried about Mulder back on the island ----

Mulder awoke to seeing the beautiful Neri looking down at him.  "Feel better?"
she asked?  Mulder was aware that he did - the bites hardly hurt at all.  He
wasn't quite sure exactly what she had done, but it had worked.  "Ant bites
bad, medicine cures"  she said.  Mulder studied her face - her features and
eyes suggested high intelligence, yet she talked in this broken English like
she had never attended a school or been around that many people.  He noticed
the torn fabric, white - hemp like, with patches of a fine, brownish, metallic
material.  He realized that at one time, it must have been a beautiful outfit,
but years of wear had reduced it to tatters in places.  She was DEFINITELY a
mystery!  Mulder - genuinely grateful for her help - said "yes" then added
"who are you?"  "Neri."  Mulder could see the look of innocence along with
her intelligence and understanding.  He knew she would not be offended if he
asked for answers.  There was a growing realization that there was more to
her than met the eye.  "I saw you on ORCA - dressed like the other kids. Now
you are here, on this island.  Can you explain that?"  Neri read his mind
carefully.  Man troubled - HURT.  Maybe Neri help, she thought to herself.
Still - Jason had told her he was trouble.  That was NOT necessarily true, she
knew now.  Jason truly believed it, but Mulder was looking for something -
"SISTER!" she caught herself blurting out.  Mulder snapped to attention
immediately - his slight suspicion was now confirmed:  he was face to face
with an extra terrestrial!!!  She had read his mind - the wreckage, her
tattered clothes - it all fit!

Neri - sensing the understanding withing him, and feeling the question burning
within him - answered it.  "I know nothing of your sister.  My people do not
take your people.  That WRONG!"  Neri said it kindly, softly, with a sincerity
that Mulder could not deny.  Neri, liking his dedication to his sister - added
"Neri has sister, too.  Mera.  Neri miss her, too.  She went home, I stay here
to complete my father's mission: to save your oceans."  Mulder, entranced,
hardly knew what to say at the enormity of his discovery.  But he knew one
thing: the aliens that abducted his sister, the same ones that years later had
tired to abduct him - they looked the part.  Neri was from an entirely
different world, a kind, benevolent world, that was very similar to earth.
Neri was outwardly human, but inwardly advanced.  Mulder was very comfortable
with her, not afraid of her or her people at all.

Now Mulder was faced with a dilemma - was his personal mission to uncover
evidence of government cover-up of UFO visitation, or was it a personal
mission to find his sister.  He decided it was to find the truth, but at what
cost?  Neri had just saved his life, ben completely honest with him, and was
here with a mission - to save the ocean ecology.  Neri sensed the moral
conflict within him.  She saw that there was a real danger that he would
reveal her secret, but that he could be persuaded against it.  "Close your
eyes, rest, see ALL!"  she said.  Mulder felt drowsy by now, some lasting
effect of the ant venom ----.  As he drifted off to sleep, he saw wonderful
images of the ocean - swimming through multi-colored reefs, shoals of beautiful
fish, on and on, unfettered by tanks or breathing gear, each sweeping ocean
vista more breathtaking than the last.  He became a whale named Charlie in his
dream - more peaceful - more content than he had ever been.  He had a
wonderful, oral tradition of singing - tales of the oceans, tales of countless
generations of his ancestors, songs of ecstasy at the sound of his brothers,
sisters, all of his relations, singing their greetings from hundreds or even
thousands of miles away.  Paradise - simply paradise under the waves, that was
all Mulder could dream.  Ample food, warm waters ----.  Then came songs of
lament - tales from the past - the great slaughter - from above.  Strange
floating objects, strange, small, unfeeling creaures - we mean no harm - why
do you chase, why do you kill?   Songs of whole families - wiped out.  The joy
of life - gone - our numbers - our culture, almost gone.  Poison, strange
objects thrown into our world.  Our food - tastes strange - poison, better to
die fast on beach than eat poison and die slow.  Then hope.  Strange creatures
from surface want to swim with us.  Seek us out.  Touch us.  Very little
killing, only some places.  We know where to go now.  What to look for.  Not
all strange creatures bad.  Be careful.  Then Mulder saw Neri - swimming with
him free in an endless ocean.  A friend, from above.  I can talk to her.  She
understands.  Will tell all the others - please don't hurt.  Don't poison.
Don't kill.

Mulder awoke from his dream to find Neri, Jason, Vanessa, and Mick all
watching him.  Neri spoke first "Now you understand - why you must say
nothing!"  Mulder understood, but had to ask "are all of you in on this?"
"Yes" Jason said.  Please don't reveal Neri's secret.  They would destroy her,
and if her people ever came back looking for her, they might be angry.  Maybe
they wouldn't destroy us, they aren't like that.  But maybe they would just
quit helping - let us destroy ourselves."  Mulder marvelled at the wisdom this
boy had, and reluctantly agreed.  So many disappointments - near misses - the
one good thing is - this time he was making the decision to walk away.  He
told them of the strange signals that attracted the attention of the
authorities. "The space ship!"  Jason said to Neri "I plugged that thing in -
that's how your people knew you were here!"  "You must stop it from bringing
others!" Neri said.  "I know what to do!"  said Jason.  "I will just unplug
it!"  He took of through the brush in the direction of the ship.  Mulder
remembered the artifact they had recovered from the crash site  "Neri - I
found something outside your ship - we brought it up, it is in our boat!
"Message from father!"  Neri said.  "No its not!"  said Vanessa to Mulder.
"we took it out and hid it where it will NEVER be found"   "Yeah, but those
UBRI goons are swarming all over the place" said Mick.

Suddenly Scully's voice echoed through the brush "MULDER!"  The kids
scattered, into the nearby brush, leaving Mulder.  She emerged into the lagoon
area with Dr. Hellegren and his assistant.  "Scully!"  She ran ahead to meet
Mulder.  "Mulder - where WERE you?"  "Little boys room."  Before Dr. Hellgren
got there, Mulder quickly told Scully "We have to get them off this island!"
Scully knew Mulder well enough to know he had a good reason.

"But I do not understand - why is the FBI abandoning its research here?"  Dr.
Hellgren asked a freshly showered Mulder and Scully on board his boat.  "The
signal shut down, and has not re-appeared"  Mulder said.  "Can you verify
that?"  Dr. Hellgren asked his assistant.  She confirmed that the signal had
shut down that afternoon, and had not re-appeared.  "There is still something
about that island!"  He said.  "We will drop you off at ORCA tomorrow if you
wish.  But we will continue our own investigation!"

                 The next day - on ORCA, Dr. Bates lab

"Thank you for you help!"  Diane said to Mulder.  "I thank you to" said Neri,
who was in her ORCA uniform.   "You understand, you must live here on ORCA for
a while."  Scully told Neri "the man from UBRI will not give up easily!"
"Leave them to US!"  Jason said.  "If you think YOU had it rough, WAIT until
you see what we have in store for THEM!"  Mulder and Scully looked at each
other and smiled - a little flushed, and couldn't really imagine anything
worse, but knew Jason meant business.  "Mulder - do not abandon search for
your sister"  Neri said.  "One day, you will find, just as Neri found Mera.
But Neri also find home here, and MOTHER" she said looking at Diane.  Mulder
understood, and appreciated the thought.  He and Scully had a long trip ahead
of them - home.