textfiles/sf/XFILES/a3

                ------   on the island ------

"I can't beleive how fast they found the cove and the space ship"  Jason said.
"We have to work even harder to get them out of here.  These people are
professional UFO hunters and if they stick around, they are bound to put it
together and figure out that Neri is an alien."  "I don't know, Jason, it
looks like we have lost" Vanessa said.  "Its not like you to give up.  Now its
all out war, and we have to teach them a lesson they won't soon forget.  Neri
- do you have them?"  "Yes - these are big, but don't hurt.  Very scary!"
"Zoe, is everything ready at their boat?"  "Yes, they aren't going anywhere!"

Mulder and Scully had hastily set up camp on the island.  Scully had brought
along a large t-shirt which she put on: to avoid plants, insects - and stares.
Mulder had an old shirt that he, too put on.  Mulder was impatient to explore
the island - to see if the alien visitors had left any traces.  Scully was
more and more resigned to a night of camping out - and put her tent up.  Much
neater than Mulder's tent, of course.

Mulder was absolutely brimming with excitement - he found proof of an alien
landing.  But how old was the crash site?  One year or a 100 - or half a
million?  Were there any survivors?  Scully was STILL sceptical.  Fox Mulder
was possibly right - there might have been an alien landings.  But she was
more concerned that the Australian government might have the equivalent of the
Blue Beret UFO crash cleanup squad.  They were a long way from home, and their
disapperance would go almost unnoticed, and would sure fit a lot of their
enemies agendas.  As usual, Mulder wasn't even thinking about the implications
of his discovery.  He was reveling in it - dangerously.  Scully decided he
absolutely needed somebody to look out for him, and resigned herself to the
job.  But then, she had saved his rear from higher-ups so many times already
---

Scully noticed that the going was getting rougher and Mulder was a bit ahead
of her - "Mulder, could you wait up?"  "Scully!  Come here and look at this!"
As she entered a marshy area, she saw the same type of superstructure sticking
out of the mud, but obviously whatever this craft was - it had been here for a
very long time and almost corroded away.  Mulder was already pacing out the
dimensions.  Scully noticed a cave opening first "Mulder - over there -
another cave"  Both of them made their way there in a few seconds, and Mulder
flipped on the flashlight.  The cave was half submerged in mud - Scully
worried about leeches.  After a while, the floor slanted up, dried out and
became very dusty.  Mulder - with his long legs, kept outpacing Scully and
occasionally had to wait for her to catch up.

Neither of them noticed Neri in the shadows, carrying a bag.  Neri was
genuinely nice - and had more than a few second thoughts about the nasty
tricks she had cooked up with the other kids.  But she knew it had to be done,
or her secret would be revealed.  She crept behind Scully, carefully placing
the creepy contents of the bag on her back.  When she finished, Neri slipped
quietly away, totally unobserved.

Mulder turned to wait on Scully - as she emerged from the shadows, something
was VERY wrong, something moved on her shoulder!!!  "Scully! - DON'T MOVE!"
She had been vaguely aware that her T-shirt was a bit too clingy, but nothing
prepared her for the creepy surprise on her shoulder - a 6 inch spider!  The
scream was instinctive, but Scully was immediately aggravated with herself.
It was harmless, she knew that!  But the shock.  As Mulder rushed over to help
her, to their astonsishment there were a dozen more on her back!  "InDANA
Scully and the cave of doom?"  Mulder quipped.  As their large, creepy, but
harmless "guests" scurried off into dark, Mulder and Scully were enveloped in
a mass of flapping wings - hundreds of bats had been disturbed by Scully's
scream and the light.  Bats everywhere - crashing into their faces, catching in
Scully's hair, bats, bats and more BATS!  "Get them off of me, Mulder!" yelled
a genuinely distressed Scully!  As suddenly as they came, they left.  A more
composed Scully said "Mulder, there is nothing in here."  Mulder reluctantly
agreed - his light searched around the room - the were in the bat chamber, the
end of the cave.

After emerging from the cave, they were drenched all afternoon by a
thunderstorm of biblical proportions - enough to keep them from exploring the
island any more that day.  They crowded together in Scully's tent - Mulder's
leaked.  "Mulder - don't you know you NEVER touch the canvas in the rain?!"
Scully asked.  Scully did not like the idea of having to share her tent with
Mulder, but wouldn't let him get soaked in his.  As they opened the rations
they had brought along - just in case - hundreds of huge cockroaches emerged
and within seconds were all through the tent ---------

                Half an hour later - Mulder's tent

------ "What are you staring at?"  Mulder asked a disgusted looking Scully, as
she emptied out yet another full can of water under a leak in Mulder's tent.
Scully answered "Its not the leak, Mulder - doesn't it strike you as a bit
strange that there would be roaches in a sealed container?"  And what about
those tanrantulas - how did they get that deep into a cave that is flooded at
its entrance?  Mulder - somebody is playing pranks on us to get us off this
island!"  "I didn't want to tell you this earlier, because I was afraid you
would think I am paranoid"  Mulder said.  "But several times since we landed
on the island, I could swear we were being watched.  I was almost sure I heard
footsteps running away after we discovered the spiders.  I was about to
investigate, when things went batty."  They discussed the day's events some
more, then went to sleep, on opposite sides of a tent made for one person.

Both were sleeping fitfully - the rain had ended about midnight leaving the
roar of insects and frogs all around them.  Scully was not used to sleeping on
the ground.  Her dreams went back to a night in a cabin in the woods - a
terrified night with Mulder, trying to keep the light on - or they would be
devoured by the body fluid sucking "mites from hell".  In her dream, she could
feel them biting and biting - sucking and sucking --- the life draining out of
her - biting and BITING!!!!   "MULDER!!!!" she screamed as she woke up - it
was NO DREAM, it was hundreds of biting ants all over her - in her face, her
hair, her clothes, getting into her nose, her ears -  Mulder awoke to a
similar torment - they went through an orgy of slapping brushing, cussing (at
least Mulder) - to absolutely no avail.  They were being bitten and bitten -
there was just one single minded purpose in both of their minds - all
consuming, primal survival!!!!   There was only one thing to do - and the
quicker they did it the quicker the relief.  Both of them crashed throught he
jungle - no matter that it was only 50 yards to the beach on the trail - it
was 30 straight through the jungle!!!  Low tide - DAMMIT!!!!  Both of them
were ripping off their ant infested clothes and plunged gratefully into the
ocean - stark naked.  Oh what a relief to feel dozens of little tormentors
being washed away.  It took minutes for each one - individually - to come to
the realization that it was over - that last ant was gone.  Scully was lucky -
she was not allergic to formic acid.  The bites barely left more than a memory
on her as she scrubbed the last of them our of her hair.  Mulder was not so
lucky.  He rubbed every sore bump on his body - hundreds of them.  The cool
water was relief to both of them.

As their composure returned, both realized - they had a PROBLEM.  They had
randomly chosen spots in the ocean about 30 yards apart, and were aware of
each other's - state of undress.  They both had another problem - hundreds of
biting ants left in their abandoned clothes on the beach.  Neither was
particularly anxious to abandon the cover of water and expose themselves to
the other - or to go through the painful process of picking up ant infested
clothes, rinsing them out, and then wearing soaking wet, sandy, salty clothes.
They were too far apart to hear each other in the ocean - but even in the
moonlight Mulder could see Scully was looking at him - not knowing what to do
next.  Mulder knew exactly what to do, he turned away, and stayed turned away
for a lot more than what he judged was enough time.