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
Please send comments to: rafaelzeap@terra.com and
missy_kath@hotmail.com
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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