TITLE: Chess Game II: The Queen

ORIGINAL TITLE IN SPANISH: Tablero de Ajedrez. La Dama

AUTHORS: Rafael Zea (rafaelzeap@terra.com.co) and Missy K

(missy_kath@hotmail.com)

DISCLAIMER: The characters from The X-Files used in this

story belong to Chris Carter, 20th Century Fox and 1013

Productions. It is not our intention to infringe the

copyright laws.

CLASSIFICATION: WIP (2/3); X-File, with a subtle touch of MSR

and DRR. RATING: PG-13

SPOILERS: This story takes place after "Existence". There are

some references to "Syzygy," "Invocation," "Dead Alive," and

"Empedocles". "Jump the Shark", "William", and "Release"

never happened.

SUMMARY: The Queen is in danger. Will the other pieces of the

game be saved...?

Author's Note: This tale was first published in September

2001 and is available at

http://www.silverbug-x-files.com/relato971.htm

-------------------------------------

"Moooooom!"

"Danaaaaaaa!"

The van went away, taking Scully and little William. Maggie

kept motionless for a few seconds, then she ran towards

Doggett, who was lying outside the left door of Scully's car.

The mother of the kidnapped agent could see at least two

bullet wounds in Doggett's body, which were bleeding badly.

One wound was on the upper left side of his chest, and the

other was on his left forearm. She noticed that John Doggett

was barely breathing. Maggie looked for the agent's cell

phone and dialed 911 for help.

-------------------------------------

BETHESDA NAVAL HOSPITAL

MARYLAND

4:10 P.M. (EASTERN STANDARD TIME)

Doggett was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital from

the crime scene. Although he had been seriously wounded and

had lost a lot of blood, the emergency doctors could

stabilize his condition. After more than an hour in surgery,

the doctors announced that the agent was out of danger. The

shot in his forearm had made him release his gun but had not

damaged any bones. The other shot went through his chest

between his collarbone and his left lung, but did not

seriously harm any tissue either. In the surgeons' own words,

they were "clean wounds". But there was also a third wound,

caused by a bullet that had skimmed his left temple. It could

have been a lethal shot if the shooters hadn't missed by

millimeters. Doggett could have been killed.

While Maggie was giving her statement of the events to the

Police, Doggett woke up, confused, not only due to the normal

effects of the anaesthesia, but also because he remembered

what had happened and immediately thought that he had been a

victim of deception and had just been used to steal Scully's

son. His suspicions were confirmed when he opened his eyes.

"Mr. Doggett, I see that you are recovering from critical

condition," a man in a black suit said. He was the same man

Doggett had talked to at the Lincoln Memorial, 24 hours

before.

"Let me guess. You're going to finish *the job* that your

partners couldn't finish two hours ago," John Doggett

answered, his voice barely audible. "Shoot me now!" he added,

breathing deeply.

"You are wrong, Agent Doggett. You have fulfilled your part

of the deal and now it's time for us to do the same. That is

why I'm here," the Black-Suit Man asserted.

"Why did your men shoot me?" Doggett asked, trying to sit up

without being able to do so.

"We needed the *attack* to look as convincing as possible. We

didn't want to make you look like a traitor before Agent

Scully and her mother. That's why our men didn't shoot to

kill you. If we had wanted to kill you, I wouldn't be here

talking to you, would I?" the mysterious man pointed out.

"So get to the point. Tell me where my son is!" Doggett

demanded.

The Black-Suit Man quietly pulled an envelope out of his

pocket and gave it to Doggett, smiling.

"This is the location of the orphanage where Luke Doggett is.

He has been checked in under the false name of 'Luther Coy

Doherty'. He is close to finishing his elementary studies and

he is one of the most intelligent students in his class," the

Black-Suit Man commented.

Doggett opened the envelope. Inside, in addition to the

address of the orphanage in Fulton, a small town in New York

State, there was Luke's report card, full of excellent marks,

and a photograph of Luke, taken at a play. The kid was

dressed up as a US Marine, and the military shield from

Lebanon that Doggett had given to him on his last birthday

was on his small uniform. It was the same shield that the

Black-Suit Man had given to Doggett as proof of Luke's

existence the day before.

"You will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow, and you

will be able to travel and find Luke. Mulder and Reyes will

stay in South Dakota for days before realizing that they are

wasting their time there. By then, Scully will have already

been released. You do realize that in this deal there are no

losers, only winners?" the Black-Suit Man said.

"And what are we going to say to Mulder when Maggie Scully

calls to tell him that her daughter and grandson have been

kidnapped?" John Doggett inquired.

"That's been taken care of. Agent Reyes and External Adviser

Mulder haven't realized yet that they have no way to

communicate with anyone outside of South Dakota. There isn't

a phone in that state that works. The cell phone antennas

have been sabotaged. There aren't even any Internet

connections. They're isolated from the rest of the world, and

Mulder and Reyes will believe that this is because of the

UFOs that are supposedly in Keystone. However, we know that

Mulder is a distrustful man. If he and Agent Reyes try to

come back before the planned date, we'll have a surprise for

them on their way home..."

Doggett pressed his lips together and kept quiet. The Black-

Suit Man left the room.

--------------------------------

UNKNOWN LOCATION

5:20 P.M.

The kidnappers had taken Scully and her baby to a huge

building converted by the Consortium into a genetic

laboratory in which the scientists of that sinister society

worked day and night to develop an organism that was

physically invulnerable to both human illnesses and gunshot

wounds. Up till then, the most advanced experiment was the

one that had resulted in William's conception, which was, on

the one hand, the consequence of a medical treatment to re-

fertilize Scully (that had apparently been a failure) and, on

the other hand, the result of a natural physical relationship

between her and Mulder. Mulder had genetic material in his

DNA from the alien race that had almost killed him at first,

but then helped in his miraculous recovery after he was found

and pronounced dead. The kidnapped agent and her son were

locked up in a room, which, contrary to expectations, was

very comfortable. It had heating and the furniture was

similar to any normal bedroom: a bed, a cradle for the baby,

and a private bathroom. The difference was that a hidden

closed-circuit camera watched over every movement inside the

room.

"Oh, look who's here!" Diana Fowley exclaimed, as she opened

the door and walked into the room. The door only could be

opened from the outside.

"Youuuuu?!" Scully asked in disbelief, holding her baby

tightly in her arms.

"I am alive, whether you like like it or not. I have come

back to make sure that you suffer everything I had to deal

with after helping you rescue Mulder..." Fowley declared.

"What they did to you isn't my fault. Besides, we all thought

that you were dead," Scully said, trying to defend herself

without letting go of her son.

"Sometimes, innocent people have to be blamed instead of

guilty people..." Diana challenged Scully.

"Let me tell you something. I'm not afraid of you," Scully

replied, after placing William in his cradle. She stood in

front of her well-known rival. Her blue eyes sparked in

anger.

"Listen to me, you tiny redhead!" Diana Fowley bellowed, and

she grabbed Scully's shoulders, lifting her as if she was a

feather, owing to her amazing strength, unusual for a woman.

"I won't allow you and Mulder to laugh at me again!" she

added.

Scully struggled between Diana Fowley's arms, impressed by

the fact that such a skinny and apparently weak woman could

have so much strength.

"Let her go!" Marita Covarrubias shouted from the door as she

saw Fowley attacking Scully.

Diana gave an incomprehensible howl. Her eyes became confused

and she looked like she had gone back to the wild condition

she had been in at the psychiatric hospital where she had

been locked away. Then, Diana threw Scully away. The agent

fell on the bed, which broke into pieces by the impact. The

noise caused by the bed breaking woke up William, who burst

into frightened tears. Immediately, three men showed up,

trying to immobilize Diana, but the strength of that mad

woman was superior to theirs. Seeing this, Marita pulled out

a syringe filled with the same drug she had used at the

insane asylum, and injected Diana in the arm. Fowley started

to relax, and the three men were able to take her out of the

room.

"Are you OK, Agent Scully?" Marita inquired of Scully.

"Since I'm here I'm not fine..." Scully answered as she stood

up with difficulty and went over to William to calm him down.

"I will make sure that you have a new bed and things like

that do not happen again..." Covarrubias said in apology and

she closed the door before Scully was able to say any other

word.

---------------------------------

RURAL AREA

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA

7:06 P.M. (CENTRAL STANDARD TIME)

"Damn it, Doggie, answer!" Reyes grumbled to her cellphone.

"What's wrong, Monica?" Mulder asked, as he saw the dark look

on Reyes' face.

"I can't get through to John. This is the eighth time that

I've dialed his home phone number and his cell number and I

always get the same message: 'Sorry, we are having technical

difficulties. Please try again later...'" Monica Reyes said,

imitating the voice that she had heard on her phone.

"Let's try my phone," Mulder suggested.

After a long moment of silence, External Adviser Fox Mulder's

face shared the same expression as his intrepid colleague.

"It's weird! My cellphone company is not working either.

Maybe we're out of range or..."

"...Or maybe it's interference caused by the UFOs that have

been seen near Keystone... We are not far from the area,"

Reyes hinted, joking more than making a solid assertion.

"Hmmm, I don't know." Mulder hesitated. "We should try to get

through to Doggett and Scully by using the police radio and-"

"Agent Reyes, Mr. Mulder, come with me," Deputy Peters said,

suddenly appearing and interrupting the conversation.

"Sheriff Delani has found something..." Peters explained.

Mulder and Reyes went with Deputy Peters through the forest,

where Sheriff Delani was waiting for them in the company of

some other police officers. Monica and the ex-agent realized

that the policemen were surrounding a huge circle that had

been spray painted on the ground. It was the same image that

they had seen on the belongings and in the homes of the

missing teenagers.

"Is there any clue on the boys?" Mulder asked immediately.

"I don't know whether this can be regarded as a 'clue' or

not, but we found it here, among the ashes of a fire that was

still warm," Peters answered as he gave them a folded piece

of paper.

Reyes took the paper and unfolded it.

"'See you in hell, fools!'" Monica read aloud. "Look at it,

Mulder. This handwriting is similar to the handwriting Bobby

Daniels' mother showed us."

"We also found this burned piece of plastic. It seems to be

part of a tent. There's something strange here because that

night we walked all over the forest and didn't see anything.

It's like those boys were playing hide-and-seek with us,"

Sheriff Delani added.

"What do you think, External Adviser Mulder?" Monica Reyes

inquired in curiosity.

"I'm guessing that the elections' fraud in Florida instigated

by the Bush brothers to steal the US presidency from Al Gore

was more mysterious than the disappearance of these

teenagers. As far as I'm concerned, these kids are only

making fun of us. I think they came up with this idea to get

away from their parents and make it look like a kidnapping or

an alien abduction, so they couldn't be traced." Fox Mulder

conjectured.

"What?" said one of the police officers. Peters didn't say a

word.

"When we went to see the parents of the boys who disappeared,

I realized that in every house there was some valuable object

missing, which, I think, the boys probably sold to raise

money for their journey to wherever they went..." Mulder

continued.

"Now that you mention it, I found it strange that in several

houses there were empty places on the walls, as if a clock or

a painting was missing. It was a detail that nobody would

take into account except by staring at the walls. I also

thought of it, but I assumed it was irrelevant. It's evident

that there is a connection to these events," Monica said,

ashamed but admitting that the External Adviser was right.

"Sheriff Delani, I suggest that you suspend this case. These

boys will come back as soon as they run out of money and miss

mom and dad. They will come back sooner or later..." Mulder

pointed out. "Let's go out of here, Reyes. Keystone is

waiting for us!"

Mulder and Reyes walked away from the sheriff and the police

officers.

"Attention central headquarters and all units... the search

is cancelled. Again, the search operation is cancelled!"

Delani said, speaking into his portable radio set. "Hey!

Damn, the radio isn't working!"

---------------------------------

STATE ROAD 385, ON THE RAPID CITY-KEYSTONE HIGHWAY

SOUTH DAKOTA 8:20 P.M. (CENTRAL STANDARD TIME)

Mulder and Reyes were not around to listen to Sheriff Delani

complain about his radio set, so they went to the motel to

check out, get their luggage and travel to Keystone. At the

motel, they tried to get through to Doggett, Scully and

Skinner in Washington, but the motel phones didn't work

either. Both Mulder and Reyes had a hunch that something

horrible had occurred in D.C., but, at the moment, there

weren't any connecting flights from Chicago to the capital

available. They decided to go to Keystone by car, hoping to

have more luck with telecommunications there.

"Mulder, I'm worried. Since we've left Washington, we haven't

heard anything from John and Dana," Monica said in

frustration.

"I'm afraid we've been deceived. The Rapid City case was an

investigation that could have easily been assigned to the FBI

office in Dakota. I don't see why the hell Doggett thought

we'd be the agents needed for that case..." Mulder said as he

glanced at an imaginary point on the road.

"You must understand that John was a policeman before

becoming an FBI agent. It's difficult for him to analyze any

fact that doesn't fit with traditional police research

patterns. In spite of my efforts, I still haven't been able

to broaden his perspective. Based on the facts, I guess he

thought that you and I were the right people for these cases,

considering our experience with paranormal phenomena."

"You're right. The basic information led us to believe that

the Rapid City case was a genuine X-File, as this case on

UFOs seems to be. I just hope this doesn't turn out to be a

*Y-File*. Hey! What are you doing?" Mulder shouted.

"I'm sorry... I haven't won my last battle against the

nicotine," Reyes said in apology as she put her lighter back

inside her pocket and threw a cigarette out the car window.

"Give me that pack, Special Agent Reyes," Mulder said.

"Is it an order, *External Adviser Mulder*?" Monica inquired,

laughing.

"Think about it this way: either you give me that pack of

Morley's or you arrive in Keystone on foot..." Mulder

threatened. Then his expression softened. "I'm just kidding,

Monica... Come on, give me that pack," the ex-agent said

gently.

"OK, Mulder, you win. Take it as a proof of my strong will to

quit smoking," Reyes said, finally surrendering to the

External Adviser's demands and giving him the pack. "Oh, and

take this too just in case," She added, handing him the

lighter as well. Then, she opened a pack of Niclets

nervously, chewing a piece before Mulder's eyes.

--------------------------------

FORENSIC SCIENCE INSTITUTE

LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK 9:56 A.M. (EASTERN STANDARD TIME)

Doggett left Bethesda Naval Hospital without authorization,

dressed up as a doctor so that nobody would notice who he

was. The agent had his left arm in a sling and he took a taxi

home. Once there, he changed his clothes and went to Dulles

Airport. On his way to the airport, John Doggett phoned a

friend from the Long Island Police Force and had him apply

for an exhumation warrant of Luke's body, which was buried in

a local cemetery there. Doggett wasn't about to give up, even

though he remembered every word he had said to Maggie Scully,

a few minutes before leaving the hospital:

*************************************************************

"Please find my daughter and my grandson, Agent Doggett,"

Margaret Scully begged, tears in her eyes. "Mul... Fox has

disappeared. I haven't been able to get through to him and I

don't know who to turn to... I must travel to San Diego

immediately. My son Bill has been sent on a mission on the

Atlantic Ocean, and my daughter-in-law is sick, as well as

her son. I can't stay here..."

"Mrs. Scully, I promise that all of us at the FBI will do our

best to find Dana and William. We'll try to get through to

Mulder and Monica... I'll keep you informed..." Doggett

asserted with a lump in his throat.

"Thanks, Mr. Doggett. God bless you..." Maggie whispered

before going out of the room.

*************************************************************

Absent-minded in his thoughts, Doggett almost completely lost

track of time and, as he arrived at his destination, the

Peacefield Cemetery employees were already digging up the

white casket of Doggett's son. The coffin was immediately

taken to the forensic institute in which DNA test would be

run on the remains of the body in order to find out whether

the dead boy was Luke or not. When Luke had been murdered,

neither John nor Monica had allowed any DNA test to be

carried out because both of them had seen the corpse and were

absolutely sure that the kid was Luke John Doggett. However,

the things that the Black-Suit Man had shown Agent Doggett

seemed to deny this fact, and that was why Doggett wanted to

put an end to his doubts...

"Is this test 100% reliable?" Doggett asked a forensic

doctor, feeling an acute pain in his right arm from the

needle used to obtain a blood sample.

"There nothing that's 100% reliable, Agent Doggett. But I

think that in cases like this one, the accuracy level is

extremely high. If the bones of the boy have the same genetic

features found in your blood sample, then, undoubtedly, you

two were relatives," the doctor pointed out.

"Understand me, Doc... with all due respect, we aren't

speculating on whether Anna Anderson was Princess Anastasia

Romanov, or if she was simply a mentally ill woman who

thought that she was a member of the Russian monarchy. There

are more issues at stake here: the life of at least four

people depends on the result of this DNA test," John Doggett

said emphatically.

"Mr. Doggett, we are just doing our job. No matter how

important the case is, we *can't* force the strictness of the

science to suit the results we'd like to achieve..." the

forensic expert explained.

The door of the laboratory opened. A woman in a white coat

walked in with a sheet of paper in her hand.

"Doctor Jenkins, Agent Doggett, here are the results from the

DNA test," the woman said as she gave the piece of paper to

her colleague, who just glanced at it and handed it over to

the agent. Doggett read the sheet completely.

"Long Island, NY, September 5th, 2001. After conducting a

strict analysis on bone tissue samples collected from the

corpse of a boy interred at Peacefield Cemetery, Long Island,

under the name of Luke John Doggett, and comparing these

samples with a blood sample taken from FBI Special Agent John

Jay Doggett, and after running the same tests three times

using the most advanced available techniques in genetics, the

undersigned forensic pathologists came to the conclusion that

the result of the test was NEGATIVE. Signed, James J. Humes,

Chief of Forensic Pathology, Robert N. McClelland, Chief of

Forensic Genetics Laboratory..."

Doggett staggered. Sweat began to run from his forehead.

"Are you OK, Agent Doggett...?" Doctor Jenkins inquired, when

he saw that Doggett's face had turned pale.

"I have just received what may be the best news in my whole

life, but... But it hurts more than the three bullet wounds

in my body. During the past four years, I have been in

mourning for a son who is not dead and... And to figure out

the truth I had to risk people who don't deserve what I've

done to them..." Doggett paused for what seemed like an

eternity. "Damn it! I won't rest until the people responsible

for this are punished!" the agent exclaimed, crumpling the

sheet of paper in his trembling hands. Then, he filled his

lungs with air and tried to calm down.

Doggett's cell phone rang in the middle of that furious

promise.

"John Doggett!"

"Do you want to lower your voice and tell me where the hell

you are? Why did you leave the hospital without medical

permission?" Assistant Director Brad Follmer asked from the

other side of the line.

"I'm not with Agent Reyes, if that's your concern... And

where I am is none of your business..." Doggett replied

unwillingly.

"This is not a courtesy call, so I will get the point, Agent

Doggett. Agent Scully and her son have disappeared after the

shooting in which you were wounded yesterday. Assistant

Director Skinner has designated a task force led by him to

scrutinize every inch of D.C., Virginia and Maryland till we

find the whereabouts of the kidnappers and their hostages. We

have lost all contact with Agent Reyes and External Adviser

Mulder in South Dakota. There has been no communication with

the FBI offices there or the South Dakota Police Department

either. We're guessing that both of these events must be

related. Therefore, I've volunteered to go out there

personally to look for them," Follmer informed Doggett.

"Wow! You and Monica *alone* in Mount Rushmore? I guess

you're very pleased. Have a good time," Doggett replied

sarcastically.

"Don't be an idiot, Doggett. If you were able to get out of

your hospital bed with three bullet holes in your body, you

won't have any problem getting to South Dakota. Let's meet at

Dulles Airport at 11 A.M., OK?" Assistant Director suggested.

"I'm not in Washington and there's a personal matter in

Fulton that I need to take care of today. So, if you want,

I'll contact you tonight at Chicago Airport. Then, we'll get

a flight to Rapid City..."

"Fine. I'll be there at 6 P.M."

Both men hung up.

--------------------------------

UNKNOWN LOCATION

10:22 A.M.

At least four men barged into Scully's room and immobilized

her. A doctor injected her with a sedative that took effect

in seconds. Then, the unknown physician took William to the

laboratory. It was clear that they did not want to harm the

baby, which was evident due to the careful way William was

treated. William was examined in detail, both visually and

through the use of modern medical-monitoring electronic

devices. The result of the tests astonished the Consortium

scientists because, as Doggett, Diana and Marita were told in

the limousine, they could detect no differences from the

genetic structure of any other human being. However, they

discovered an unknown extra element in the composition of his

chromosome chain by matching a blood sample and a hair lock.

This extra element was the basis of little William's

exceptional physical condition. Another blood sample was

extracted from the baby in order to produce an artificial

copy of his chromosome chain in a lab environment. With this

copy of William's chromosome chain, the scientists hoped to

create perfect clones of William, immune to every illness,

both human and alien, and able to regenerate wounded organic

tissues.

When they had finished the procedure, a nurse took the baby

back to Scully's bedroom. She was already awake and in the

bathroom. As Scully heard the nurse coming into the room and

leaving William in his cradle, the agent broke the mirror on

the wall.

"Mrs. Scully...?" the nurse asked in surprise as she heard

the noise.

"Help me, please! I fell down!" Dana Scully shouted from the

bathroom.

The nurse opened the door but did not see anyone lying on the

floor. As she turned around, she found herself almost face to

face with Scully, who hit her on the head with the lid of the

toilet tank. Then, as fast as she could, Dana took the

uniform off the nurse and changed her own clothes.

"You'd rather keep sleeping, Willie," Agent Scully whispered

to her son as she lifted him from the cradle and went out the

bedroom door that the nurse had not closed.

A security guard, who saw Scully through a video camera in

surveillance central, turned on the alarms.

--------------------------------

KEYSTONE SOUTH DAKOTA

10:55 A.M. (CENTRAL STANDARD TIME)

Agent Reyes and External Adviser Mulder had arrived in

Keystone in the middle of an enormous rainstorm the night

before. Compared to the motel in Rapid City, which was a real

nest of mice, the motel near Mount Rushmore was a pigsty, and

that description was generous: the heating did not work, so

that Mulder and Reyes were close to freezing, shivering with

cold in their rooms, and the roof had so many holes that it

rained inside as well as outside the hotel. What's more, none

of the phones worked there, either.

Monica Reyes was disturbed. She had not been able to get a

wink of sleep the whole night and a wide range of thoughts,

each of them more unpleasant than the previous one, filled

her head, which had started to hurt. The rain did not stop

and the sky was completely black. She could barely see the

rocky faces of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and

Theodore Roosevelt, sculpted in the white stone of Mount

Rushmore. The U.S. Aeronautic Federal Administration had

suspended all flights in that area due to the weather

conditions, so if she and Mulder wanted to go back to D.C.

they would have to do it by car. As a believer in paranormal

phenomena, the UFO case in Keystone was very intriguing to

her, but what was more intriguing was the fact that she

hadn't heard any news from Doggett or anyone else in

Washington since they had left the capital. At that moment,

the only thing she wanted was to get to Washington as soon as

possible. Her sharp sense of perception had convinced her

that something really bad had happened.

Mulder hadn't slept either. Through intuition and by

unconsciously accessing the mental skills he had acquired

after his abduction, he knew that things weren't right in

Washington. The extrasensory connection he had recently

developed with Scully was blocked, and this made him even

more worried.

With dark circles under their eyes, Mulder and Reyes were

having coffee to mitigate the loss of sleep and fuel their

long journey back to Washington. All of a sudden, they saw

Sheriff Delani's patrol car through the cafeteria window.

"Good morning, Agent Reyes, External Adviser Mulder..." the

policeman said, greeting them as he walked into the

cafeteria. "As the telecommunication systems is still out of

service in South Dakota, we came personally because we

thought you two might be interested in what we found out."

"'We' came...?" Reyes inquired, wondering why Delani spoke in

the plural. Deputy Peters showed up at the door. He looked

overwhelmed.

"External Adviser Mulder, you were right. We have found the

teenagers... But not all of them..." Peters stated, as he

wiped the sweat away from his forehead with a tissue.

Mulder looked at him, confused.

"In fact, they stole some things from their homes and ran

away to spite their parents. But one of them, Mark Hill, has

a secret that we found out," Delani continued. "His *real*

name was Mark Castle, and he was a member of a sect that-"

"You mean a cult sect?" Reyes asked, interrupting him.

"Yes, a cult," Sheriff Delani said. "Mark Castle was the

oldest of the missing boys and was involved in a cult sect

whose rules stated that when a member became an adult - at 18

- he had to kill two younger boys as a 'sacrificial ritual'.

Otherwise, he would have to kill himself. Mark Castle's 18th

birthday was last week. We know that, early this morning, the

other boys returned home, frightened. Castle committed

suicide the night before in front of them by shooting himself

in the head. He had tried to kill his friends, burning them

alive in their tent, fragments of which we found. Castle's

body hasn't been located." he added.

"These kinds of rites are not uncommon in several sects,

especially the ones involving satanic and pseudo-satanic

sacrificial rituals," Reyes told Deputy Peters in a serious

and professional tone of voice.

"It's a pity but I don't think there's anything that we, as

FBI agents, can do in this case. This is merely a crime, not

an X-File. Let the Police investigate the facts," Fox Mulder

said.

"Well, in any case, External Adviser Mulder, your theory was

correct," Peters said. "The teenagers wanted to laugh at

their families, if only for a few days, then go back home,

but they didn't know that Mark Castle would try to kill them.

The note they left was, in a certain way, true, but it was

written by Mark himself," Peters went on saying.

Mulder nodded quietly. All of a sudden, some confusing ideas

began to mix.

Gunshots...

Kids...

The ex-agent shook his head.

Death...

"It isn't necessary for you two to stay here, Agent Reyes,

Mr. Mulder," Delani admitted. "We can take charge of the

situation. And regarding the UFO case..."

"Regarding that case, I think we'd rather return to

Washington right now. Once there, we'll transfer the case on

UFO sightings in Mount Rushmore, and related events, to the

local FBI office in South Dakota. Mulder and I have serious

reasons to suspect that the failure of the telecommunication

systems in this zone is not due to Extraterrestrial

Biological Entities," Monica stated.

"OK. On behalf of the South Dakota Police Department, we

thank you for your cooperation. Have a good trip," Sheriff

Delani said as way of farewell.

"Good bye..." Peters mumbled as he put his hat on.

Delani and Peters were about to leave the cafeteria, when

suddenly one of the patrons exclaimed as loudly as his lungs

would allow:

"OH, MY GOD! LOOK AT THAT!"

In seconds, the whole place seemed to be filled with such a

glow that the day was one of sunny summer daylight and not

dark clouds and rain. The two policemen, the FBI Agent, and

the External Adviser walked out of the cafeteria into the

street, accompanied by the rest of the patrons and bystanders

around the motel. They all saw an intense and blinding light

that covered the entire sky, coming from the top of Mount

Rushmore's sculptures of the Presidents. Mulder moved back

two steps, unconsciously, because the scene was almost the

same as the one he had seen when he had been abducted. Reyes,

in spite of being a UFO believer and seeing one flying saucer

before finding Mulder 'dead,' was also astounded.

"Are... are you seeing what I'm seeing, Mulder?" Monica

questioned him in a trembling, fearful voice.

"Yes... I am damned if this is not true...!" Mulder shouted. "It sounds

crazy, but, at this moment I wish I didn't believe..." he

joked.

"I wish John were here to see this... in order to convince

his f* stubborn skeptic brain..."

"I'm afraid it wouldn't help, Reyes. Scully didn't believe in

UFOs, not even after we escaped from one in the Antarctic..."

The light became brighter than it already was. None of the

eyewitnesses of the phenomenon, standing in its glow, could

run away. Delani, Peters, Mulder and Reyes tried to look for

a safer place inside the motel but, as they were about to

move to the door, everything just stopped. The world became

still, as if it was a photograph...

---------------------------------

FULTON, NEW YORK

1:43 P.M. (EASTERN STANDARD TIME)

John Doggett got out of his rented car. His legs trembled. He

had driven as fast as he could for more than four hours, his

left arm in a sling, and sweating in abundance, despite the

cold weather. The FBI Agent closed the car door and faced the

Sweet Hope Children's Home. He felt anger rise involuntarily

as he saw the old and ugly facade of the orphanage Luke was

in.

Staggering, Doggett moved to the entrance of the house. He

felt dizzy. His body temperature was extremely high because

of the bullet wounds and a lack of rest. Underneath the

bandages, his wounds hurt as if he had just been shot.

Doggett looked at the card in his right hand: "Michael

Stewart. Director". Then he rang the bell and heard several

childish giggles and small steps that vanished quickly in the

air. A bulky woman dressed in grey stuck her head out of a

window in the door.

"May I help you, sir?"

"Good afternoon. I'm John Doggett. Is Director Stewart here?

I have an appointment with him..." Doggett said, trying to

look inside the narrow window.

"Director Stewart is waiting for you," the woman answered as

she opened the door. "Please, come in."

Doggett went through a dark hall. The woman invited him to

follow her to a brown door, which screeched as she opened it.

The agent could see images of orphanages taken from Charles

Dickens novels in his mind. Inside the office, Michael

Stewart, the director, stood up to greet Doggett. Stewart was

a bald and pleasant old man with a light voice. As he saw

him, Doggett breathed in relief.

"Good afternoon, Agent Doggett. We were waiting for you,"

Stewart said, shaking Doggett's right hand.

"I know. Thanks a lot," Doggett answered. Both of them sat

down. Doggett tried unsuccessfully to clear his throat before

explaining how he had discovered the location of his son.

With an unusually hoarse voice, Doggett explained the facts.

"...And, as the genetic test was negative, I was determined

to find my son. Some days ago, I was told by a confidential

source, that Luke was here..." Doggett concluded. His

forehead glistened with sweat, not only because of the fever

but also his anguish.

"In fact, Agent John Doggett, Luke, known by us as Luther Coy

Doherty, is here..." the Orphanage Director assured him as he

looked at the photographs and the wrinkled sheet of the DNA

test results that Doggett had shown him as supporting

evidence.

Stewart's words sounded almost unbelievable to Doggett. As if

it was a vision, Doggett saw Stewart push the button of a

bell, and the woman who had welcomed him to the orphanage

appeared again. She was asked to bring Luke. Seconds later,

John Doggett was in front of his son, Luke John.

"I will leave you two alone, so you can speak in private,"

Director Stewart declared, leaving the office.

"Hello." It was the only word that Doggett could say.

"Hello," Luke answered.

He already looked like a 10-year-old kid, but he had the same

features Doggett could remember and recognize in himself: the

same eyes, the same look, the same firm expression.

"Do you... do you know why I'm here?" the agent asked, unable

to believe what he was seeing.

"Yes... I was told that they had located my father and that

he would come to see me." Luke went over Doggett, as if he

was afraid that it was a dream. Then, he stretched out his

small hand. "Are you...? Are you really my *Daddy Doggie*?"

Nobody in the world, except his ex-wife, knew how his son

used to refer to his father in that affectionate way. There

was no doubt. This child was his beloved son, Luke John...

The strong and brave agent from Georgia couldn't help but

burst into tears as he hugged Luke. Not even the pain in his

wounded left arm was enough to stop John Doggett from

embracing his son as a castaway grabs at a piece of wood in

the middle of the ocean. The boy hugged his father strongly,

too.

"Of course I am, my *Lucky Luke*! I'm your father!"

"I knew that this year the wish I made on my last birthday

would come true... daddy, you came for my birthday... the day

after tomorrow!"

"Yes, I know. Do you think I had forgotten it?" Doggett said,

lifting Luke with his right arm, demonstrating that even

though his body and soul were injured, the strength of his

days as a U.S. Marine in Lebanon were still with him. The

stamina that he had maintained during the war, that damn war

that had kept him away from his home, was the same one that

had allowed him to now remain on his feet.

Doggett was happy and angry at the same time. He was happy

because he had just recovered his son and because all of the

mourning of the last three years had ended. That remote hope

that everything had been a mistake, which he had always kept

in the deepest place of his heart, had come true. Luke was

with him... Doggett wished that Monica could share his

happiness, in the same way that she had shared his pain when

he had lost Luke... But, at the same time, he was fuming in

anger at himself because of what he had done to get his son

back. He had given Scully and her baby to her enemies. Agent

Doggett wasn't exactly a firm religious believer, but at that

instant he regarded himself as Judas. And it was such a

horrible sensation... An intolerable feeling.

"Let's go outside for a moment, *Lucky Luke*. I need to

breathe some fresh air," Doggett said to his son.

Luke led his father to the door and then to a garden. There,

the sun covered them with its warmth and lightness. The fever

was literally devouring Doggett, who was holding his son's

hand as they walked on the grass.

"Come on, *Daddy Doggie*!" Luke exclaimed, running towards

some trees.

Trees...

A forest...

Luke...

Doggett followed him, trying to catch up with him. A shiver

overwhelmed him as he saw the kid strolling among those

trees. The forest near the orphanage was very similar to the

one in which Monica had stood waiting for him when he arrived

to identify Luke's corpse. As Doggett walked around the trunk

of an old birch tree, he found himself face to face with

Luke, who was smiling at him. It was the same smile that the

boy had inherited from his mother.

"Thanks for coming to look for me, Dad," the boy said, mixing

laughter and tears.

Doggett smiled at Luke slightly and hugged him again. This

time, the bullet wounds in his arm burned as if they were

soaked in vinegar. As they moved apart, father and son stared

at each other for a moment, a moment that was interrupted

when Doggett felt a sudden and terrible ache in his head. The

temperature of his body seemed to be rising in a matter of

seconds. The dizziness made the whole forest spin around

them. Doggett's sight became blurred and he felt almost

blind. He staggered and tried to hold Luke's hand.

"Daddy...?" Luke asked in concern, seeing how his father's

face had collapsed.

"Luke... my son..." his voice was absolutely

incomprehensible. Then everything seemed to turn into

darkness and Doggett fainted.

---------------------------------

UNKNOWN LOCATION

1:55 P.M.

Dressed as a nurse, Dana Scully escaped from her room through

the hallway, holding sleepy William in her arms. There was no

one in the corridor, so she tried to find an exit by

following the numbers on the doors. She could see a group of

people in the distance moving closer.

"She couldn't have got too far," Marita Covarrubias said. She

was the leader of the search team. "Central, do you have an

image of Scully from any of the cameras? Over," she spoke

through the radio.

"Negative... Over..." an anonymous voice answered back from

the walkie-talkie.

"Keep alert, Central! Tell us as soon as you see

her...Over..."

"OK. Over and out..."

Scully hid quickly around a corner of the hall, out of the

sight range of her pursuers. William woke up and started to

sob. Dana trued to calm him down in order to avoid that they

were discovered. Apparently, the agent succeeded, since the

baby fell asleep again. Nevertheless, as she thought that the

danger had finished, two steps from some stairs she heard

behind her the last voice that she ever had imagined to heard

again. Her blood froze.

"Nice try, Dana."

As she turned around, Scully saw Diana Fowley in front of her

with her hands on her hips, smiling sarcastically.

"You won't stop me from escaping..." Scully mumbled as she

pressed William against her chest.

"'Course I will," Diana stated. "The boy..."

Two strong identical men, who had accompanied Fowley, fell

upon Scully and took William away from her, although she

tried to fight them off. But it was to no avail.

"William...! Give him back to me!" Dana Scully shouted in

despair.

The baby began crying and his screams broke the silence of

the place. Fowley opened a grey metallic door, and the two

men went through it with Scully's little son. Then, Diana

moved towards her old enemy and threatened her in hatred.

"Now you are going to pay for all the things you've done to

me, you bitch..." she whispered as she grabbed Scully by her

shirt front.

Scully tried to defend herself, but Fowley used her

extraordinary strength to full advantage and dragged Dana to

a place that looked like an operating room. Once there, she

tied Scully to a chair, then closed the door and locked it.

Dana Scully struggled to free herself from her bonds.

"Finally, we are alone, dear Agent Scully..." Diana Fowley

said ironically. Then she opened a surgery kit and took out a

small, shining scalpel, as well as some other surgical

instruments. Scully trembled with fear when she saw them.

"During all those years I was fighting against terrorism in

the Middle East, I was in contact with the worst criminals

and knew some procedures banned by the Geneva Convention and

regarded as 'torture'. I would not refer to them that way.

No... Actually, they are for me 'unofficial police

procedures,' aimed at getting confessions from criminals..."

"I am NOT a criminal and I have NOTHING to confess... much

less to you!" Scully replied bravely, despite her fears.

"I know and I don't care. Let's say that this session will be

*didactic* for you, and it will be a review for my

knowledge..." Fowley stated, as she brandished the sharpened

scalpel near Scully's face.

A few seconds later, the screams of horror and pain echoed

off the walls of that huge military complex.

----------------------------------

FULTON, NEW YORK

3:31 P.M. (EASTERN STANDARD TIME)

Doggett came to as he felt the sun shining full on his face.

Lying on the ground, Doggett shook his head, which still hurt

a lot. He stood up clumsily. Hesitant and disorientated, he

looked around. Luke wasn't anywhere in the forest.

"Luke...?" John Doggett called, his voice hoarse.

There was no answer.

The FBI Agent headed for the orphanage, walking heavily.

"Luke, can you hear me? LUUUUUKE!" Doggett insisted. He still

didn't receive an answer.

Doggett ran to the place where he had parked his car as

quickly as he could, which was about 30 or 40 meters from we

had passed out. What John Jay Doggett saw then was,

undoubtedly, the most traumatic and unbelievable experience

of his entire life: the orphanage was not there. It had just

disappeared. There was only an empty space in the middle of

the forest, and there was not the slightest trace, not even a

brick or a stone, of any building named "Sweet Hope

Children's Home".

Doggett walked around the forest as if he was an automaton.

He did not find anything. There was absolutely nothing. There

was no proof that any orphanage directed by a certain Michael

Stewart had ever existed there, or that his son, Luke, had

lived in that place. Luke had disappeared again...

Frightened, Doggett rummaged around in his pockets with his

free hand, and was surprised to find that neither Luke's

photographs, nor the files that the Black-Suit Man had given

to him in the hospital, were there. The only two things that

he found were the small military shield from Lebanon that

Luke had been wearing on his U.S. Marine costume and the

battered piece of paper containing the DNA test results. John

was beaten by a wave of anguish and disbelief.

"THOSE SONS OF BITCHES TOOK HIM AWAY FROM ME!" Doggett

shouted as he furiously pounded the trunk of his car so hard

that he came close to breaking his right hand. "I WON'T LET

THEM DO THIS TO ME AGAIN! SCULLY! MONICA! LUUUUUKE!"

The angry and desperate shouts of the man vanished in the

depths of the forest.

TO BE CONTINUED

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