Author's Notes: I began this in 2008 after having an odd dream about a woman getting shot in a rural gift shop that I once visited while on vacation near Lexington, KY. That somehow tied in with a sign I saw in a small general store somewhere out West when we were driving from MI to Arizona years ago which said "no deferred payments" which stayed with me over the years since, it was so unusual. As the years went by I kept opening this story and trying to work on it, but it wasn't until 2012 that I finally figured out where I wanted it to go and managed to write the final third in less than a couple of weeks.
Smuggler's Cave, KY, is fictional but loosely based on Horse Cave which I have visited, and done the easy cave tour there. The resort that Mulder and Scully stay at is my memory of Boyne Mountain in northern Michigan; I have described that gorgeous room as best as I can recall it. Last but never least Dinosaur World is a real place as I understand it, though I ran with Alia's hysterically funny description of driving by it on the freeway and made it up from there. I had to let M&S have some fun, you know?
Spoilers: The whole show up to Season 7, takes place shortly after The Amazing Maleeni.
Summary: While undercover Mulder and Scully work through their complicated relationship along with a baffling case.
Thanks to Alia and Cory, who helped tons with early drafts. I'll never forget all your help.
Also many thanks to beta readers Megan and Melissa for catching my goofy mistakes.
I truly appreciate your time in working on this.
No Deferred Payments
Rated R
By Suzanne L Feld
Prologue
The vaguely pretty young tour guide stopped them at the bottom of a rickety-looking flight of stairs that led up to a dark opening below the stone overhang above them. "Now, as I said back in the museum, this isn't a dangerous tour but you do need to follow all the safety procedures that I outline," she said in a soft, mildly Southern accent, pushing back her pale pink hard hat with one hand and checking the equipment attached to her belt with the other. Her movements were almost automatic; it was clear to the small group around her that this was all second nature, and it comforted most of them. "First, under no circumstances wander away from the group or go off the boardwalk or trail. Smuggler's Cave is part of the Mammoth Cave system and ain't been fully mapped, so Heaven only knows where ya'll end up if ya'll get lost."
A petite redhead in a badly clashing orange hard hat in the back piped up, "Can't they send out search and rescue dogs to find you if you get lost?"
The guide nodded, her long, lank blonde ponytail bobbing up and down behind her. "Yeah but the question is, will they find you before or after you die of dehydration? Though a subterranean river runs through most of the cave from the lake," she waved a hand at the wide blue lake to their right, "it goes underground just past where our tour ends and doesn't reappear for miles. Ya'll could wander for weeks, if ya'll lived that long, without seeing daylight or water."
The other woman seemed cowed and now pressed against her taller, dark-haired male companion who had his arm around her shoulders.
"Again, so long as ya'll follow the safety procedures I've outlined this tour is not at all dangerous although it is considered strenuous," the guide reiterated. "Insurance requires the hard hats, but the worst that should fall on you is drops of water."
She glanced around the group, making sure everyone was listening. "Next, if ya'll get winded or out of breath, please do not hesitate to ask me to slow down or stop for a bit. We'll be doing some climbing up and down and if y'all aren't in extremely good shape, it can push ya'll past your limits. And for those who don't find the hike difficult, please don't complain if we have to stop. The reason that there is no time limit on this tour is so that we can go at the easiest pace for the group."
Another glance around, another unconscious check of hardhat and equipment. "All right then, let's go. It's fifty stairs up to the lip, then a hundred and forty seven to the bottom on a thirty-degree slope with three landings, so pace yourself accordingly."
She swept her eyes over the group one more time, then turned and began to climb. One by one, the group of assorted-experience spelunkers followed her up and then down into the depths of Smuggler's Cave in Smuggler's Cove, Kentucky.
