Act Two
Dreams are answers to questions we haven't yet figured out how to ask. X-Files (Fox Mulder)
The Q-Bureau
Tuesday, July 11, 1989
9:45 AM
"Lee, what was Operation Alpha Dawn?"
"Huh?" Amanda's voice jerked Lee out of his half-doze; he straightened suddenly, looking over at the desk where his wife sat, file-folder in hand. "Operation Alpha what?"
"Operation Alpha Dawn." Amanda looked at him. "You fell asleep at your desk again, didn't you?"
"Where do you see Operation Alpha Dawn?" Lee said, neatly changing any discussion about his sleeping habits. The less he thought about his sleep—and by extension his dreams—the better off he was.
Amanda pointed. "It's listed here in Eric's notes, but I have no idea what it could be."
Lee shook his head. "I have no idea either," he admitted. "Does it give any details?"
"Not really. He just has them listed as possible suspects pending investigation. The thing is, I've read your case reports and I don't recall any mention of an Operation Alpha Dawn"
"That's because there wasn't any. Let me see." Rising to his feet, Lee walked over to Amanda's desk, looking over her shoulder. There it was, in Eric's spidery scrawl. It was even underlined.
"Ring any bells?" Amanda looked up at him.
"Afraid not," Lee sighed. "It doesn't make any sense—any information he had was supposed to be shared with me. We were partners, Amanda."
"Maybe he didn't have any information to share at that point," Amanda reasoned. "He probably wanted to do more research."
"I guess that's possible. Speaking of research, did the computer turn up anything?"
"Nothing. At first it said my access was denied and now it's telling me that the file can't be found."
"Here let me try under my ID." Lee leaned over Amanda as he punched in his user name and password, followed by the search phrase. There was a momentary pause as the screen went pitch black for a moment, followed by a series of flashing green letters:
File Not Found.
"That is odd." Lee ran both hands through his hair. "We should talk to Billy, Amanda—he might have some idea of what this is all about."
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"I'm sorry—I wish I had something to tell you." Billy handed the file folder back to Lee. "Unfortunately I'm as much in the dark about Operation Alpha Dawn as you are—I've never heard of it."
"Thanks Billy," Lee said. "It was worth a shot, anyway."
"What puzzles me, Scarecrow, is why you'd want to look into this now?" Billy asked. "It's been over six years—why not just let it lie?"
"Six years or not, he was still my partner." Lee's voice rose slightly as he spoke— Amanda placed a placating hand on his shoulder. "This was my case, and this was the case where Eric—where he—" Lee couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence. " I'd just like to be sure that I've tied up the loose ends."
"Unfinished business, you mean," Billy said.
Lee nodded. "Pretty much. I think I owe it to him."
"Maybe this will help you to lay old demons to rest." Billy was silent for a few moments, staring at them. "Okay. I'll give you the green light on this—for now. But if any new cases crop up in the meantime they take precedence. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir," Amanda said.
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Lee Stetson stood in front of the open gravesite staring at the light maple wood casket. A large floral wreath had been placed on top. He heard the preacher speaking but didn't hear the words. The weather fit the day—an overcast sky—clouds threatening rain any moment.
At only seven-years-old Lee found himself alone in the world again. His parents had been killed in a car accident when he was five and for the past two years he had been living with his grandmother, Marie. She had passed away suddenly a couple of days ago. The social worker that had come by the house said it was a heart attack.
Mourners stood at the Stetson family plot, paying their last respects to the family. His grandmother was being laid to rest next to his grandfather, but his parents had been buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His grandmother said they served their country well, although Lee did not understand what that meant. He was dressed in a dark blue suit jacket much too big for him, his small hands hidden by the long sleeves. Lee gave a sideways glance to his uncle, who was dressed in military dress-blues. The man he had only met yesterday would from now on be responsible for him and this man was a stranger to him.
Lee felt numb and hollow inside. He tried not to cry; knowing there would be no sympathy or emotional response from his uncle. His uncle had already told him that he could have a good cry last night and then it was time to move on, and Lee had given up being angry a long time ago. He felt a hand on his shoulder and the two of them walked away, without a glance back, towards the waiting car...
Lee and Kathy stood beside the black sedan. Kathy and Eric's young girls had already climbed into the car. He looked through the car window and gave the girls a timid wave. His right shoulder was in a cast and sling. Then turned his attention back to Kathy, giving her a gentle hug.
"I'm sorry, Kathy," Lee said. "Eric was a good friend and partner."
"Lee, don't be so hard on yourself," she said giving his hand a reasurring squeeze. "It wasn't your fault." She took out a tissue from her purse and wiped her eyes. "You know he loved you."
Lee nodded his head, trying to blink back his tears. "If there anything I can do for you or the girls—don't hesitate to call."
"Lee, promise me you won't let his death affect you. He wouldn't want that and promise you'll come by and visit the girls and me. We care about you, too."
Lee again nodded his head, as he opened the car door for her with his good hand. After she climbed into the car, he shut the door and watched the car drive off. He thought to himself, 'I should never have allowed myself to become so attached and I never will let that happen again. No never again. No, no, no!'
"Lee, wake up." He felt someone shaking him awake. Lee was sweating profusely; breathing heavy and his heart was pounding rapidly. Gradually he began to slow down his breathing. He sat up looking around the room. He realized he had fallen asleep on the sofa in the Q-Bureau.
"Are you okay?" Amanda asked him concerned.
Lee shook his head.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
He shook his head again.
"I think it would help. Remember, I'm a lot stronger than I look." She sat down next to him on the leather sofa.
"I had a dream," he slowly began to say.
"You have been having them a lot." She reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. "What have your dreams been about?"
"It's hard to explain—they all seem to be mixed up. I was at my grandmother's funeral and then all of a sudden I was at Eric's. I just can't explain it. Maybe I'm going crazy."
"Honey, they're just dreams—"
"I had a dream about the day Eric was killed." She nodded her head encouraging him to continue. "We had just pulled up in front of the building to meet our contact and shots rung out and I shouted for Eric to get back into the car before I was shot and then instead of standing in front of his memorial service I was standing there at mine."
She wrapped her arms around him. "Oh, sweetheart. It was just a dream and dreams can't hurt you."
"But you don't understand Amanda. It seemed so real. Everyone was there and you were crying and I wanted to take the pain away, but I couldn't."
She kissed his forehead. "Dreams are our subconscious telling us something. Let's see if we can figure out what's really been bothering you. Okay?"
Lee nodded his head, before beginning, "I think the dreams started around the time Jenna was born. I won't lie to you Amanda, but I'm scared. I'm scared for you and her. I fear history will repeat itself and that something happens to me, you, the boys and Jenna will grow up without me—just like Eric. Or if something happens to you and I, Jenna will grow up without her parents, just like I did. Who will take care of Jenna? Your mother's not a young woman anymore. I know she's healthy now, but things can change at a moments notice. Your aunts are in the same position as your mother. I have no blood relatives, except my uncle and you have no brothers or sisters. The boys have the rest of their lives to live and should not be saddled with a baby."
"Lee, I'm not going anywhere and neither are you."
"You know as well as I do Amanda, you can't make that promise in this business."
"Lee, look at me." She lifted up his chin and forced him to look at her. "I'm not going anywhere and neither are you," she repeated.
Lee put his arms around her and hugged her tight like he never wanted to let her go.
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The phone rang, the loud noise jarring the quietness of the room. With a sigh the man picked up the receiver. "Speaking,"
"Good evening, sir."
There was a sharp intake of breath. "Apparently you don't follow orders very well—I told you never to call me here."
"I think you'll understand why I called once you hear the news."
"If it's about Stetson, I already know."
"You do?"
A slight chuckle. "I think you'll find that there's very little that I don't know."
"Now that you know, what will you do about it?"
"It's already been done," the man said. "I've erased all the computer files pertaining to Operation Alpha Dawn. Stetson will soon give up his research once he discovers that there's nothing to find."
"And what if he doesn't give up?" The other man's voice was high-pitched with anxiety. "It never pays to get too sanguine, remember—"
"I don't need you telling me how to conduct my business."
"But we never did find all of Jarvis' research—"
"Keep looking," the man snapped.
"What about Scarecrow?"
"If he continues the investigation we may have to resort to more—shall we say—drastic measures?" Another small sigh. "It's regrettable, but Scarecrow may find himself joining his former partner much sooner than he anticipated."
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A man sat in his car observing the two-story house across the street. He didn't even remember purposely driving here. It was almost like he was on autopilot. He had been on his way home but suddenly felt a strange sense of protection come over him. He felt responsible for her. He was the reason she was in the position she was in.
He observed the Jeep pulling into the driveway and watched her and two teenagers exit out the car and walk towards the porch. He watched them enter through the front door. He turned forward knowing it was time to go home. He glanced once more towards the house and knew the occupants were safe for the evening. He turned the ignition key and the Corvette's engine roared to life. He put the car into gear and pulled away from the curb, heading down the road.
The kitchen curtains moved and Kathy watched the sports car drive past the house. She shook her head, slightly amused, whispering, "Lee."
Q-Bureau
Thursday, July 13, 1989
12:30 PM
"Nothing's ever really deleted from a computer." Matt Thompson's fingers tapped on the keys in a rhythmic motion as he spoke, his eyes not leaving the screen. "My kid thought that she'd accidentally deleted her English paper last week but I still managed to find it for her."
"And you think that's what might've happened in this case?" Amanda asked.
"Well from what you two have told me it certainly sounds like it," Matt said. "All the Agency computers operate on a network system—someone may have thought they'd deleted it but I'd be willing to bet that the data is still floating around in the harddrive somewhere—let me play with it and see what I can find out."
"Thanks Matt. If you find anything report it to either me or Amanda, okay?" Lee said. "No one else."
The expression on Matt's face was confused but he nodded. "Will do."
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5:30 PM
"Maybe I'm being a little paranoid." Lee turned the 'Vette onto Maplewood Drive. "It's just all so strange, Amanda. Agency files are very comprehensive—there should be something on an Operation Alpha Dawn—but two days of investigation and we've turned up nothing."
"Someone's trying to hide something," Amanda said. "Someone within the Agency itself?"
Lee nodded. "That would be my guess." He glanced at his wife, his hazel eyes troubled. "Apart from Billy I'm not sure who we can trust at this point."
"We can trust each other." Amanda squeezed his hand. "As long as we're together we can get through anything. Remember?"
Lee smiled faintly. "That I do, Mrs. Stetson."
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"Dinner's going to be on the table in an hour," Dotty said. "Jenna's playing on her blanket in the den and the boys are in there too—playing with the new Monopoly game that you bought them."
"New Monopoly game?" Amanda repeated. "Mother, what are you talking about?"
"UPS delivered it about ten minutes ago—it was addressed to Phillip and Jamie. Are you telling me that you didn't buy it for them?"
"No of course we didn't." Amanda exchanged glances with Lee. "Was there a return address?"
"It was from IFF. That's why I assumed it must be from you. Maybe it's from Mr. Melrose."
"Maybe," Lee said.
"Well whoever sent it was it was a nice thought," Dotty said. "The game does have some defects, though—all of the playing pieces are top hats and the train stations have very strange names—"
"Top hats?" Lee's face grew pale. Without another word he turned and strode towards the den.
"Lee?" Amanda called out as she followed her husband.
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"No, Munchkin— that money isn't yours." Phillip pulled the now-wrinkled money from his baby sister's grasp. Jenna gave a squeal of protest. "Boy, Grandma wasn't kidding when she said that you have to keep an eye on her every second."
"I don't see how we're going to play the game with Jenna around," Jamie said. "We already had to put all the pieces away so she wouldn't swallow them and besides that she drools all over everything."
Phillip picked up Jenna and put her back on her blanket. "I don't see how we're going to play the game anyway, wormbrain. All the pieces are the same." Undaunted by the move, Jenna began a slow creeping crawl back towards the boys and the game board.
"We could always dig up the old pieces from our old game."
Phillip snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that—our old game is only under fifty bazillion other games in the hallway closet."
"There must be something we can do."
"Hey Lee, what's up?" Phillip said as his stepfather came into the room. But instead of answering Lee picked up the game board and looked at it. His lips thinned and his face, which was already pale, grew even paler. He folded the game board shut with a slam and placed it under his arm.
"Lee?" Mom came up behind him. "Tell me what's going on." But if Lee heard he didn't answer or acknowledge her. He turned to Phillip.
"Where are the game pieces?" Lee asked. "You said they were all alike?"
Phillip nodded. "All top hats. We put them inside the box and closed it so Jenna couldn't swallow them."
"Let me see them." Both boys stared at him. "Now!" Phillip opened the box and handed Lee the metal top hats.
"I was going to try and dig out our old game pieces so we could still play," Jamie admitted.
"No," Lee said. "No one is going to play this game—not ever."
"Why?" Jamie asked. By that time Lee had already left the room. Jamie turned to his mother. "Mom what's the matter with Lee?"
"I don't know, fellas. But I'm going to find out."
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Amanda walked into the bedroom finding Lee sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the Monopoly box, which sat in his lap. Amanda closed the door behind her. She bit her lip and tilted her head questioningly looking at Lee.
"What was that all about, Lee?" she asked in a harsh tone. "You've never raised your voice to the boys and you nearly scared them half to death."
"I'm sorry for scaring them, Amanda." He finally took his eyes off the game and looked up at her.
Amanda sat down on the bed next to him. "What has got you so upset?"
Lee lifted the lid of the box and handed Amanda the game board. "Look closely at the rail road spaces, notice what's written instead of the names of the rail lines." Amanda unfolded the game board and looked at the squares. "Yankee Doodle Pot Pie," she paused, glancing back at Lee.
"Go on."
"Duck A La Nathan Hale, Valley Forge Flap Jacks and…"
"Pilgrim's Peach Puff," he finished.
Lee stood up. He padded across the carpet towards the bedroom window. Opening the shades, he scanned the street down below; then turned back around to face her. "This is a warning Amanda. Someone is telling us to back off."
"Lee, how can you be so sure about that? This might just be someone's idea of a sick joke."
Lee shook his head. "Now look closely at the 'Free Parking' space."
Amanda turned the game board until she had that square in front of her. Someone had pasted a picture of a black hearse the with the words 'free ride.' Amanda closed her eyes hoping it would all go away.
"And how many people know Eric's codename?" Lee opened his fist. He had been clutching the playing pieces so tightly they had left marks on his palm. He dropped the hats into his wife's hand.
"Eric's codename was Top Hat."
Amanda's eyes opened wide.
Lee sat back down on the bed, next to her. "Someone from the Agency wants us to stop investigating Operation Alpha Dawn."
"I still don't understand how you are making that connection, Lee?"
"Read the chance cards, Amanda. They all read the same thing."
Amanda picked up the orange colored cards. She turned the first card over and read. "This is the beginning and the end of Scarecrow and his family if dawn changes to dusk."
She dropped the cards in fright. They floated harmlessly to the floor scattering on the carpet. "Someone from our own Agency is threatening our family? They know everything about us and we don't know who to trust." She swallowed hard. "Whatever are we going to do?"
Lee pulled her close to him, wrapping his strong arms around her. "I'll tell you what we're going to do—we're going to solve this mystery and stop this traitor. No one threatens our family as long as I have a breath in me."
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Friday, July 14, 1989
9:30 AM
"Thank you for coming to me with this." Billy closed the Monopoly box, sitting on the edge of his desk. "I only wish that I could do more to help you."
"Isn't there some way to put a trace on the package, sir?" Amanda wondered. "At least we'd be able to determine what department it was mailed from and who authorized it."
"That was the first thing we thought of, Amanda. Unfortunately the package seems to have passed through several departments and the sender is only identified by the code name of Alpha—at this time we have no idea who Alpha might be."
"Great," Lee snapped. "Just great, Billy. So someone can use this Agency to send my family threatening messages and there isn't a damn thing that anyone can do about it? What if it had been something worse, like a bomb or something? What then, huh?"
"Scarecrow I promise you that I'm going to personally do all I can to help. Whoever or whatever is behind this Operation Alpha Dawn—we will find them. In the meantime we can offer you and your family protection."
"No, Billy—I will protect my own family," Lee said. "Nothing personal, but until we find out what this is all about I'm not sure who else I can trust."
"Understood. If I were in your place I'd feel the same way. What about Matt? Has he turned up anything on those missing files?"
"We were just on our way to see him, sir," Amanda said. "He phoned us late last night."
"Let me know what he finds out, will you?" Then Billy added, "And Scarecrow?"
Lee paused as he looked back at Billy, one hand on the door.
"Good luck."
Lee's only response was a brief smile and a nod.
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"Unbelievable." Matt muttered to himself as he stared at the files on the screen in front of him. The screen glowed in the dim light, giving his complexion a slightly greenish pallor. "No wonder he didn't want me to tell anyone else about this."
There was a light tap on the door. "Come in!" Matt called. The door opened with a slight creak, the soft sound of footsteps echoing across the floorboards.
"Lee, you will not believe what I found here," Matt spoke without turning around. "This organization goes deep, man, and it even involves—"
"Really, Mr. Thompson?" The man's voice was soft, with an unmistakable hint of menace. "I think you'd be surprised just what I believe."
Before Matt could say anything more something was put around his throat and drawn tighter and tighter. He gasped for breath, objects swimming in front of his eyes and lungs straining to breathe as he frantically tried to loosen the object. His field of vision turned bright red for a moment, followed swiftly by blackness and then nothing at all.
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"Let's see what you were doing there, Mr. Thompson," the man leaned over the now-slumped figure to peer at the screen. "Accessing deleted files—very naughty thing to do. Let's just see what I can do to help you here—" The man's fingers moved nimbly across the keyboard as he made the necessary changes.
"Want to play a little ball, Scarecrow?" the man murmured, a smile spreading over his face. "This time the field we'll be playing on will be mine."
