After a rather uneventful flight from Miami International to Port-Au-Prince International, the horrific connecting flight Mulder and Scully had to endure from Port-Au-Prince to Port de Paix, where the Atrius Technological Institute was based, came as a shock to the system. The airplane, built to seat 6, had been tossed like a toy boat in a bath, diving dramatically before leveling out, only to drop again after a few seconds. This pattern meant that what in actual fact was only a 40 minute plane journey had felt like it lasted a lifetime to its two passengers. More than once during the flight Scully had been convinced that they were both going to die, if not from the plane actually crashing then at the very least from a myocardial infarction. Even Mulder, who normally was unfazed by any kind of turbulence, looked more than a little shaken when they finally touched down at the tiny airport and disembarked the plane. Running a hand through his disheveled brown hair, Mulder leaned towards Scully and whispered, "I gotta tell you, I'm fighting the urge to throw myself on the floor and kiss the runway." Scully smiled weakly, her stomach still somewhere near her tonsils. Just before they actually reached the "airport", which to Mulder looked more like a glorified shack, Scully stopped abruptly and dropped her bags to the floor. Mulder, who was a few steps ahead of her halted also and turned round to face her, starting to speak as he did, "Scully, you o…" his question tapered off as he turned round in time to see that he had directed his previous statement to Scully's rapidly retreating back. She dashed round the side of the airport building and out of sight, though still within earshot, as Mulder could hear the pained sounds of heaving and retching as the turbulent journey finally took its toll on her.
*
Roughly an hour later, after Scully's stomach had settled sufficiently to allow them to travel, the agents pulled up in front of the Atrius Technological Institute. Mulder drove, as usual, although Scully for once had absolutely no objections to this; she didn't think she would've been able to concentrate both on the task of driving and tempering her nausea.
The Atrius Technological Institute was nothing like what Mulder and Scully had been expecting. It was mainly laid out on one storey, although a second storey was visible at the back of the building. From what they could see, there weren't many windows but all of them had blinds drawn. The walls had probably been white at one time, but the years and the elements had not been kind and the color had faded to a dull, dirty cream.
There was an entrance foyer about a hundred or so meters from where the car was parked, which both agents strode confidently towards once they had exited the vehicle. As they got closer, Mulder's eyebrows furrowed as he noticed something, or rather the lack of something.
"This is supposed to be a government facility yet there's no security? Doesn't that strike you as slightly odd?" Scully simply nodded as she pushed her way through the glass doors, holding on to one long enough for Mulder to catch it and make his way through. The doors shut behind them with a satisfying 'whoosh' of air.
Upon entering the building, Mulder and Scully were confronted by what appeared to be a reception desk, with a bored looking receptionist perched behind it, filing her nails and skimming through a magazine that lay on the counter. Hearing the agents' footsteps, she jerked her head up and shot them a dazzling smile, which was returned half heartedly by both Mulder and Scully. Having already retrieved his badge from the right hand pocket of his jacket, Mulder took the lead.
"Hi, my name is Agent Mulder and this is Agent Scully, with the FBI. We're here to meet with Professor Jacques Arkouche, could you please tell him that we're here?" The receptionist simply gave Mulder a blank look, causing him to repeat what he'd said, only slower. Again the receptionist stared at him in confusion. Mulder turned to Scully, an exasperated look on his face, and was about to ask for her assistance when the woman behind the desk finally spoke.
"Je suis désolée; je ne peux pas vous comprendre. Je ne parle pas anglais. [[I'm sorry, I can't understand you. I don't speak English.]]" Mulder's eyebrows rose as his gaze shot to the receptionist then back to Scully, who shrugged.
"Well, Haiti is a predominantly French speaking country." Rolling his eyes, Mulder turned his attentions back to the receptionist, trying unsuccessfully to get his point across by repeating his previous sentence over and over, only louder and whilst gesticulating wildly. All the receptionist could do was look blank and keep repeating the same phrase, "Je ne comprends pas. [[I don't understand]]"
After about 5 minutes of the ridiculous exchange Scully could stand it no longer. Heaving a sigh she stepped forward, capturing the other woman's attention and smiled before beginning.
"Je suis désolée pour mon associé. Il ne parle pas français. Je suis Agente Scully et lui c'est Agent Mulder. Nous travaillons avec le FBI et nous sommes ici pour rencontrer Professeur Jacques Arkouche. Pourriez-vous s'il-vous-plaît lui dire que nous sommes ici? [[I'm sorry for my partner. He doesn't speak French. I'm Agent Scully and he's Agent Mulder. We work with the FBI and we're here to meet Professor Jacques Arkouche. Could you please tell him that we're here?]]" Mulder's mouth fell open in shock as Scully spoke in effortless French with a perfect accent. The receptionist smiled and picked up a phone, replying, "Oui Madame, je lui appellerai pour lui dire que vous êtes arrivés. [[Yes madame, I'll call him to tell him that you've arrived.]]" After dialing a number and speaking in rapid French to the person on the other end, she hung up and turned back to Scully.
"Il vient." Scully smiled before concluding, "Merci. Nous attendrons là-bas." and walking over to a small waiting area to the left of the reception desk. Mulder could do nothing but follow her; unable to close his mouth until they'd sat down and Scully did it for him. After a minute, Mulder regained his composure enough to speak.
"What the hell was that?" Scully simply shrugged, a coy smile spreading across her face. "Why didn't you tell me you could speak French, and save me from making an ass of myself?" She smiled wider.
"Well after you woke me up last night I couldn't get back to sleep so, given that Haiti's first language is French, I thought I'd do something productive."
All Mulder could do was shake his head.
*
A few minutes later the elevator doors on the other side of the lobby opened and a disheveled, yet not completely unattractive man stepped out, running a weary hand through his short graying hair. Noticing Mulder and Scully's position, he strode across the over-polished linoleum floor towards them. Both agents stood at his approach. When he reached them, he extended an arm to shake first Mulder's, then Scully's hand. Scully took the lead, Mulder's ego having been deflated slightly after the incident with the receptionist.
"Professeur Jacques Arkouche? Je suis Agente Scully et lui, c'est Agent Mulder…" The professor cut her off before she could continue.
"I can speak perfect English thank you," he replied curtly, his voice thick with a heavy French accent. Scully was slightly taken aback, but didn't miss a beat.
"As I was saying, I'm Agent Scully and this is Agent Mulder. We were sent by the FBI to investigate the mysterious disappearances that have been occurring recently at this facility."
"I know who you are." This guy really wasn't playing ball. Mulder decided to try a different tact.
"I realize this must be an inconvenience to you, but we're here solely to try and find out what happened to these people. The more you assist us with our investigation, the sooner we'll be back on a plane and out of your hair." This approach seemed to appeal to him a lot more, but unfortunately did nothing to change his attitude. Wordlessly, he turned on his heels and headed back towards the elevator, motioning with his hand for the agents to follow. Scully's jaw set in annoyance as they obeyed.
"I feel like a Goddamn lap dog," she muttered under her breath. "I'm surprised he doesn't turn around, pat his legs and tell us to heel." Mulder suppressed a smile as they joined the waiting professor in the elevator. He pushed a button, glowering when he had to reach round Mulder to do so. The doors closed with a gentle ping, and both Mulder and Scully had to fight a sigh. This was going to be a very long day.
*
One floor up and the elevator doors opened. Professor Arkouche stepped out and turned to face the agents as they followed.
"Alright, I don't have much time for this. Ask what you want to ask, but do not expect to find anything useful here. I hope you know what a busy man you are disturbing." Mulder and Scully exchanged glances, and Mulder decided to get down to business before they lost Arkouche completely.
"Professor Arkouche, could you tell us a little more about these disappearances? It would really help us with the investigation."
"I'm not sure I know anything that would be useful. One day these people where here, the next gone." After a moment's pause to be sure he wasn't going to elaborate further, Mulder continued.
"Anything you can remember about the days these people vanished? Even something you may think is irrelevant could be significant to us and our investigation." Arkouche sighed, clearly exasperated.
"There is nothing I could tell you that would help." Out of the corner of his eye, Mulder noticed Scully raising an eyebrow. This guy was definitely not telling the whole truth. That combined with his attitude, was really beginning to irritate Scully.
"Professor, I don't mean to speak out of turn, but if you aren't a little more cooperative there isn't really much we can do to find out what happened here." At this, Professor Arkouche stopped dead in his tracks and whirled round to face Scully, eyes ablaze.
"I didn't ask you people to come here and start poking around in our affairs. This does not concern you or your government. For all I know you could be spies here to steal our research." Scully was slightly taken aback, but stood her ground.
"Sir, this situation very much concerns us. Five of the seven people missing were American citizens, which is why we were sent to investigate in the first place. Now, unless you loosen your less than accommodating attitude, Agent Mulder and myself will be forced to return to the States and file a report stating that you refused to cooperate with us, prompting the government to conduct a full investigation into your facility and whatever it is you are researching here. It is entirely your choice Sir." Arkouche remained silent, eyes locked with Scully's, seemingly staring her down. But, true to form, Scully refused to budge an inch. After what seemed like an eternity Arkouche's shoulders slumped slightly before he sighed and turned on his heel, continuing down the corridor. Scully set her jaw, took a controlled breath and pursued him. Mulder – now well aware of the personality clash he was dealing with – whistled quietly and set off after the pair of them with an expression suited to someone preparing for an explosion.
They didn't get much further when Mulder noticed a door to their right. It was grey, much like the others they had passed, but the red lettering on it caught his attention. He ignored the French words, instead skipping straight to the English translation below: DANGER. HIGHLY VOLATILE MATERIAL. DO NOT ENTER. Intrigued, he paused before calling out to the Professor, who stopped and turned to acknowledge him.
"What's behind this door?" Arkouche stared at it before replying,
"Nothing of any importance or relevance. We must continue." He began walking again, as did Scully. Confused, Mulder reread the warning once more before jogging slightly to catch up with Scully.
"Why do I get the feeling he's not being entirely honest with us?" Mulder whispered, leaning in close to Scully's ear to enable her to hear him.
"Maybe because he hasn't said one completely honest thing to us since we got here?" she replied and Mulder suppressed a grin. Ahead of them, Arkouche had approached another much more uninteresting door, which he proceeded to knock upon. A few seconds passed before it opened to reveal another slightly frazzled looking man. He was around Arkouche's height, if a little bulkier. The two men began conversing in rapid French, which Scully was only able to decipher bits and pieces of. At one point, Arkouche gestured over his shoulder at the two agents.
"Ever get the feeling we're being talked about?" Mulder mumbled. Scully simply shook her head, trying to concentrate on the conversation. She was so engrossed in fact, that she didn't notice herself being pulled backward until she realized she could no longer hear what the two men were saying. With a start, she turned to face Mulder, who at some point had grabbed hold of her arm and began dragging her back along the corridor towards the mysterious door.
"Mulder what the hell are you doing?" Scully hissed, digging her heels in to try and stop him. But Mulder was far stronger than her, so resistance was futile.
"Come on Scully. You can't tell me that you're not even the slightest bit intrigued by that door. And the way Arkouche just dismissed it, he's definitely hiding something." All Scully could do was roll her eyes as Mulder brought her to an abrupt stop outside the door. His eyes gleamed like a mischievous little boy as he brought his hand up to the door knob. Just as he was about to twist it, a shout from behind them caused both agents to jump and look back up the corridor. The man Arkouche had been speaking with had evidently seen them, and he didn't look too happy about what they intended to do. His face was white with horror as he began sprinting along the corridor towards them, all the while shouting, "Hé Monsieur! C'est interdite, cette salle-là!" Scully looked back at Mulder, his hand still gripping the door knob.
"Mulder…" she began, but was quickly cut off by the man's voice.
"Vous ne pouvez pas y aller!" He and Professor Arkouche had stopped about two feet away from them and were standing, eyes wide with alarm.
"Vraiment? Pourquoi?" Scully replied, her interest finally piqued. Breathing deeply, the man looked her square in the eye before speaking.
"C'est là qu'on fait les expériences espace-temps, bien sur." Scully's brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to decipher this last sentence. Her eyes widened as it dawned on her. They're doing time-space experiments in there? But before Scully could respond or fully process the information, a huge blast of air nearly knocked her off her feet as Mulder opened the door with a flick of his wrist. She whirled round, preparing to yell at him to shut the door when she saw that the force of the air was dragging him inside the room. Scully was only able to watch in terror as Mulder flailed his arm, searching desperately for something to prevent himself from being sucked inside, and grabbing onto the closest thing; her own arm. All she could do was scream as both she and Mulder were wrenched from the ground and pulled into the room. Arkouche and his colleague looked on agape as the two agents disappeared from view and the door slammed closed behind them.