CHAPTER FIVE
The CSM barged into the room and went straight to Alex Krycheck, " Why did you do it?" he demanded the younger man.
Alex's dark eyes went wide, " What do you mean? And isn't a hello good enough for you anymore?"
The CSM glared at him, " You burned the body didn't you?"
" I might have…I see no reason for you to go ape-shit over it," Alex replied calmly-which only made the CSM angrier.
" You think I can't get the evidence myself so you had to burn it!" he fired at him.
" No…I did it because it was a brilliant idea that nobody else thought of." Alex shot back, the calm he felt earlier vanished.
" Calm down, both of you," the Well-Manicured Man broke in, " Alex what you did is commendable, but also foolish. Agent Scully would be hiding the tissue samples somewhere other than the lab." He turned to the CSM, " if you can get it for us, that would be the last piece of evidence destroyed. Then we can get on with things."
" Carly Garret is most upset about her father's body getting burnt," the CSM protested.
" And why should you care?" Alex asked him and it dawned on him, " Are you falling for her?"
" That's none of your business." The CSM retorted but felt his craggy face go red.
Alex smiled knowingly and the CSM stormed out of the office, fuming. Damn that Krycheck!
" Are you sure you want to see it?" Scully asked Carly. They were standing in front of the lab door and Scully was feeling protective of Carly-mostly because Carly had been through so much the past few days and seeing her the blackened body might rip her apart.
" I have to." Carly whispered, her face going white.
" Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you," Scully said before they stepped inside. There was a white sheet covering the body-what's left of it-and Scully drew it back.
" Oh My God," Carly breathed, her face going whiter and even a little green. Her father's body was nothing more than charred remains.
Carly felt as though she was going to faint so Scully covered the remains up again,
" Are you okay?" Scully asked her.
" I have to…get out of here," Carly choked back a sob and fled for the door. Scully followed and put a hand on her shoulder.
" At least my father didn't suffer. He was already dead." Carly smiled bitterly as tears gathered in her brown eyes.
Scully just nodded silently, " What now?" Carly asked her.
" Well, there's no more autopsies,' Scully said, " We have to get rid of the remains."
" My father wanted to be cremated, he was always telling me that." Carly remembered.
" That can be done." Scully paused, " Has your father's will been read out yet?"
" No, I'm going to see my father's solicitor who'll be reading out the will to my sister and I after the funeral,"
" When's the funeral?"
" In a couple of days, I've made all the arrangements, Maddy-my sister-is coming down for it."
" Do you have any other family?"
" No. My mom died when I was only fifteen so Dad raised Maddy and me. He had no siblings and neither did my Mom, so I have no uncles and aunts. None that I've been aware of anyway." The two women walked down the hall towards the exit,
" My sister and I never got along-not even when we were little. We were so different."
Scully smiled sadly, " I had a sister once."
" Oh? What happened?"
" She was killed-she was mistaken for me." Scully sighed, " Missy died for me. I was the one who should have been killed that day."
" Oh Dana!" Carly turned to her and gave her a hug, " That's awful!"
" Agent Mulder lost a sister too-Samantha Mulder was abducted one night in 1973," Scully added.
" Did they ever find her?"
" No." Scully shook her head.
Carly didn't say anything else, she fell silent after that. She had something in common with Scully and Mulder, they all lost someone they loved.
From that moment on, Carly felt a strong bond with the two agents…she knew she could trust them, no matter what Spender said about them.
Spender didn't turn up at Carly's until very late-nearly midnight and Carly was getting ready to retire for the night. She wasn't successful in completing her short story. The Writer's Guild for American Authors published a magazine yearly, (right after their Annual Writers Conference) and ever since she become a writer, they always asked her to submit something for the magazine, and she never failed.
Until now. Perhaps this would be the first time she didn't submit a piece.
She switched off her laptop and shuffled towards the bedroom, her spirits at an all-time low.
Just as she was about to crawl into bed, someone knocked on the front door. Carly went to answer it.
" Sorry I'm late," the CSM apologised.
" You are a bit…what kept you?"
" I just had some business to deal with that's all." The CSM replied.
" Oh," Carly yawned and rubbed her forehead.
" What's the matter?"
" I'm just feeling stressed…I have a short story due for the magazine and I'm nowhere near finished. I think I may have to call them and tell them I won't be submitting a piece this year." Carly frowned, " I'm really disappointed…"
" I'm sure you'll think of something," The CSM said, " Carly, there is something I need to talk to you about." He joined her on the couch.
" What is it?" Carly asked.
" A colleague of mine told me that the virus found in your father is highly dangerous and his afraid if the evidence falls into the wrong hands, there could be a risk of contamination. In other words the virus will spread all over the city, killing those who are infected."
" I haven't been infected," she reminded him.
" You just got lucky. You told me your father fought with the neighbour's dog before he was killed?"
" Sure, but I don't see how that has anything to do with it."
" he could have gotten the virus from the dog," The CSM continued as if she hadn't spoken, " Dogs are known to carry diseases that infect people if dogs aren't treated."
Carly stared at him, " So you're saying Dad caught a virus from a dog?"
" It's possible," The CSM nodded, " Didn't your father kill the dog before he died?"
" I don't know…I just assumed. On the night he died, the dog was driving him crazy, so he left the house with the axe. He came back with an armload of firewood."
" He killed the dog and got infected by its disease," the CSM concluded.
" The only way to find out is to go back to my old neighbourhood and ask my neighbour about his dog." Carly frowned, " I never did hear anything about a dog getting killed that night though."
" It's too risky if you get in contact with the dead animal…and too risky for Agent Scully as well. If you or Scully get infected, then that's the end of it. It will spread like…wild fire."
As far as he knew, the Black Virus wasn't contagious. It was just a plot so he can get the last bit of evidence from Carly.
" Then we have to destroy the virus itself," Carly spread her hands, " but how?"
" I know a way," the CSM lit up a Morley, " You can find out where Mulder and Scully keeps the evidence and get it from them. You give it to me and let me deal with it."
" What if they won't give it to me?"
" The other way is to steal it."
" Why cant you do it?"
" The agents don't trust me. They trust you though," The CSM stared hard at Carly, " You basically have no choice Carly…unless you want the whole city to be poisoned with the virus."
" No, I don't want that." Carly sighed, " Okay, I'll do it."
The CSM smiled.
The CSM barged into the room and went straight to Alex Krycheck, " Why did you do it?" he demanded the younger man.
Alex's dark eyes went wide, " What do you mean? And isn't a hello good enough for you anymore?"
The CSM glared at him, " You burned the body didn't you?"
" I might have…I see no reason for you to go ape-shit over it," Alex replied calmly-which only made the CSM angrier.
" You think I can't get the evidence myself so you had to burn it!" he fired at him.
" No…I did it because it was a brilliant idea that nobody else thought of." Alex shot back, the calm he felt earlier vanished.
" Calm down, both of you," the Well-Manicured Man broke in, " Alex what you did is commendable, but also foolish. Agent Scully would be hiding the tissue samples somewhere other than the lab." He turned to the CSM, " if you can get it for us, that would be the last piece of evidence destroyed. Then we can get on with things."
" Carly Garret is most upset about her father's body getting burnt," the CSM protested.
" And why should you care?" Alex asked him and it dawned on him, " Are you falling for her?"
" That's none of your business." The CSM retorted but felt his craggy face go red.
Alex smiled knowingly and the CSM stormed out of the office, fuming. Damn that Krycheck!
" Are you sure you want to see it?" Scully asked Carly. They were standing in front of the lab door and Scully was feeling protective of Carly-mostly because Carly had been through so much the past few days and seeing her the blackened body might rip her apart.
" I have to." Carly whispered, her face going white.
" Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you," Scully said before they stepped inside. There was a white sheet covering the body-what's left of it-and Scully drew it back.
" Oh My God," Carly breathed, her face going whiter and even a little green. Her father's body was nothing more than charred remains.
Carly felt as though she was going to faint so Scully covered the remains up again,
" Are you okay?" Scully asked her.
" I have to…get out of here," Carly choked back a sob and fled for the door. Scully followed and put a hand on her shoulder.
" At least my father didn't suffer. He was already dead." Carly smiled bitterly as tears gathered in her brown eyes.
Scully just nodded silently, " What now?" Carly asked her.
" Well, there's no more autopsies,' Scully said, " We have to get rid of the remains."
" My father wanted to be cremated, he was always telling me that." Carly remembered.
" That can be done." Scully paused, " Has your father's will been read out yet?"
" No, I'm going to see my father's solicitor who'll be reading out the will to my sister and I after the funeral,"
" When's the funeral?"
" In a couple of days, I've made all the arrangements, Maddy-my sister-is coming down for it."
" Do you have any other family?"
" No. My mom died when I was only fifteen so Dad raised Maddy and me. He had no siblings and neither did my Mom, so I have no uncles and aunts. None that I've been aware of anyway." The two women walked down the hall towards the exit,
" My sister and I never got along-not even when we were little. We were so different."
Scully smiled sadly, " I had a sister once."
" Oh? What happened?"
" She was killed-she was mistaken for me." Scully sighed, " Missy died for me. I was the one who should have been killed that day."
" Oh Dana!" Carly turned to her and gave her a hug, " That's awful!"
" Agent Mulder lost a sister too-Samantha Mulder was abducted one night in 1973," Scully added.
" Did they ever find her?"
" No." Scully shook her head.
Carly didn't say anything else, she fell silent after that. She had something in common with Scully and Mulder, they all lost someone they loved.
From that moment on, Carly felt a strong bond with the two agents…she knew she could trust them, no matter what Spender said about them.
Spender didn't turn up at Carly's until very late-nearly midnight and Carly was getting ready to retire for the night. She wasn't successful in completing her short story. The Writer's Guild for American Authors published a magazine yearly, (right after their Annual Writers Conference) and ever since she become a writer, they always asked her to submit something for the magazine, and she never failed.
Until now. Perhaps this would be the first time she didn't submit a piece.
She switched off her laptop and shuffled towards the bedroom, her spirits at an all-time low.
Just as she was about to crawl into bed, someone knocked on the front door. Carly went to answer it.
" Sorry I'm late," the CSM apologised.
" You are a bit…what kept you?"
" I just had some business to deal with that's all." The CSM replied.
" Oh," Carly yawned and rubbed her forehead.
" What's the matter?"
" I'm just feeling stressed…I have a short story due for the magazine and I'm nowhere near finished. I think I may have to call them and tell them I won't be submitting a piece this year." Carly frowned, " I'm really disappointed…"
" I'm sure you'll think of something," The CSM said, " Carly, there is something I need to talk to you about." He joined her on the couch.
" What is it?" Carly asked.
" A colleague of mine told me that the virus found in your father is highly dangerous and his afraid if the evidence falls into the wrong hands, there could be a risk of contamination. In other words the virus will spread all over the city, killing those who are infected."
" I haven't been infected," she reminded him.
" You just got lucky. You told me your father fought with the neighbour's dog before he was killed?"
" Sure, but I don't see how that has anything to do with it."
" he could have gotten the virus from the dog," The CSM continued as if she hadn't spoken, " Dogs are known to carry diseases that infect people if dogs aren't treated."
Carly stared at him, " So you're saying Dad caught a virus from a dog?"
" It's possible," The CSM nodded, " Didn't your father kill the dog before he died?"
" I don't know…I just assumed. On the night he died, the dog was driving him crazy, so he left the house with the axe. He came back with an armload of firewood."
" He killed the dog and got infected by its disease," the CSM concluded.
" The only way to find out is to go back to my old neighbourhood and ask my neighbour about his dog." Carly frowned, " I never did hear anything about a dog getting killed that night though."
" It's too risky if you get in contact with the dead animal…and too risky for Agent Scully as well. If you or Scully get infected, then that's the end of it. It will spread like…wild fire."
As far as he knew, the Black Virus wasn't contagious. It was just a plot so he can get the last bit of evidence from Carly.
" Then we have to destroy the virus itself," Carly spread her hands, " but how?"
" I know a way," the CSM lit up a Morley, " You can find out where Mulder and Scully keeps the evidence and get it from them. You give it to me and let me deal with it."
" What if they won't give it to me?"
" The other way is to steal it."
" Why cant you do it?"
" The agents don't trust me. They trust you though," The CSM stared hard at Carly, " You basically have no choice Carly…unless you want the whole city to be poisoned with the virus."
" No, I don't want that." Carly sighed, " Okay, I'll do it."
The CSM smiled.