Chapter 2: A Binary Choice
They found the helipad they thought
would be the helicopter's stop
and trying to avoid harsh questions
inquired of the destinations
where they went and when and such
They did not learn (alas) too much.
They ID'ed the passengers and crew
and thought that the next thing to do
would be to learn of their connections
to the CSM and his deceptions.
Alas, they found no sign of this
and were, by now, annoyed and pissed.
They sought out each one of the crew
to try to find out what they knew.
There were some useful observations
but none cracked the investigation.
Apparently the crew they ferried
was far less than the platform carried.
Some, each week, would come and go
but most were always there, they told.
"Very strange, not ordinary"
said the pilot to the query
Mulder offered as to whether
it was normal for some never
to go home, but always stay
out at sea, day after day.
Mulder's interest now was piqued.
but he knew not where to seek
the answers he knew to be hiding
in the light too brightly shining.
Again he skimmed the list he owned
of who upon the copter rode
in hopes someone might have seen
something that the X-Files team
might find to be of use to them
to bring to justice lawless men.
Arriving at the list's first house
Mulder went to look around
leaving Scully to phone Skinner
and to get a pizza sent for dinner.
Just before he rang the bell
BANG-THUMP, a shot, a body fell.
He grabbed his gun, he burst inside,
yelled "FBI", looked side to side
He heard a calm, familiar voice,
"Drop your gun, you have no choice
I'm on your side, I'm here to help
I don't want to kill you as well"
Mr. X showed Fox the corpse
he'd shot him, he had no remorse.
Mulder sought an explanation.
He got one, but no satisfaction.
"The platform's where you need to be.
But first you'll need to have ID
The security, I know, is tight
but with my help you will get by.
You'll replace him on the chopper
when it heads out o'er the water.
You'll have a week to look and learn
but then you will have to return.
I can't arrange another trip,
so get it right, for this is it.
Once you're there, I cannot help
and I'll deny we spoke, as well.
The story starts like most of them
With him you hate, the CSM
The syndicate in its possession
3 mid-level nuclear weapons.
A Middle East extremist group
(there's little that they wouldn't do
to get those bombs and use them here):
What they got, I think, is clear.
What they gave, I do not know,
but they acquired the Russian Oil:
Black Cancer, call it Purity
it did not seem to them to be
the thing they wanted for their war
that Allah's reign might be restored.
They got that for which they aspired
For what the CSM desired.
But when the bombs go off, what then?
That's perfect for the CSM!
The fear and panic of a war
will make his group yet more secure.
The platform holds the Purity,
And there the work's done secretly
The weapons are, I know not where,
and of their plans I'm not aware"
Scully now had come to look
to see why Fox, her partner, took
so long to finish and return;
she feared that something had gone wrong.
She entered as the killer left,
finding Fox alone instead.
He seemed, to her, to be in shock;
The words he spoke: Coherent? Not.
Over dinner he relaxed
and told her what had come to pass.
About the plot X had disclosed
and preventing what he had foretold.
Scully should, they felt the same,
return that night to DCA,
for "AD Skinner should be told!
This thing's too big for us to hold!"
Mulder would go on as planned
to sea in place of the dead man
and see what he could do and learn
then (they hoped) safely return.
Chapter 2: A Binary Choice (Continued)
The time has not yet come to speak
of Special Agent Scully's week,
save that her return was safe
and that she worked upon the case.
Mulder, now, has our attention;
as he drove to his destination,
reached the heliport quite early
(the liftoff was at 7:30).
He'd memorized his psuedo-name
and all that facts that with it came.
He felt as ready as he'd get,
But wished the test was not quite yet.
No one noticed Fox's presence
No one asked him any questions.
No one spoke and no one smiled
It all felt creepy for a while.
Still he could not shake the fear
Scully could not help him here.
No one could, he was alone;
the feeling of control was gone.
The retinal scan was a surprise;
he hardly could believe his eyes
when he passed without incident
(What X had promised, he had meant).
Mr. X gave him no training
or description of the tasks awaiting.
Fox felt very unprepared
but it seemed that the people there
like him, didn't a clue
or even any work to do.
They sat around, they watched TV
anything to pass the week.
Mulder kept things to himself
exploring when he could as well
but there were doors that would not open
options that could not be chosen.
Rooms he wasn't cleared to enter
Where (he assumed) the action's centered.
By day 6, his courage bolstered
(even without gun or holster),
Fox had turned his normal paces
towards locked doors, forbidden places
In pocket of his pants
he'd found a card not there by chance
nor by his will had it got there
But Mr. X prepares with care
And staged it to be found that day
Putting everything in place
for Mulder to now see the things
that taunted and dispatched belief.
But he (quite rare) was well prepared.
Nothing they could show him there
would shock him more than all the things
in his life he'd already seen.
And so, still calm, he saw half-grown
living hybrid embryos.
He took a sample of the oil
(A souvenir for all his toil),
Raided files and stole some papers
Decided then to end the caper.
Went back to his room with fear:
did they know that he had been there?
Were they coming, would he die?
He could not fall asleep that night.
Well before the sunrise came
the copter took them all away.
Across the water, back to land
where Mulder could feel safe again.
What he could do, he felt he'd done
He'd fought the fight, he felt he'd won.
He missed Miss Scully, even Skinner
If he could cook, he'd make them dinner
just to hear them speak again,
to see them coming to meet him.
the week apart had seemed so long
and he was ready to go home.
Chapter 2: A Binary Choice (Continued)
Now Scully's story can be told
how that week did, for her, unfold.
Remember, this tale's Skinner's, too
and of their friend both nothing knew.
She called up Skinner while she waited
For the flight to DCA and
told him all that she'd been told
and all the facts as they were known.
He told her to go home and sleep,
and come next morning they would see
What means to take to solve the case
and make the danger go away.
Skinner knew the sides were drawn,
and which side everyone was on.
Mulder would be compromised
If her tale were to see the light.
"Still, the danger must be faced
a wish won't make it go away"
he thought and sighed, and hung his head
he wished he knew what to do next.
He went home late and came in early
A little tired, a little surly.
Still unsure of what to do
"Agent Scully, how are you"
He said as she stood at his door
"Well, I got to bed at 4,
But four hours' sleep isn't bad
when none is the alternative.
But you, sir, look like you are reeling,
Please do tell me how you're feeling."
She replied, it was his turn,
"A few small steps above an urn.
But that's not what matters now,
the weapons must be found somehow.
Trust is now an unsafe bet,
for everyone is in their debt"
Scully drifted off in thought,
longing for a simpler 'ought'
Things were now so complicated
They lied, deceived, and obfuscated.
"Then sir, I think the task is ours
we must do all within our power.
And if we fail, God help us all,
but we will try before we fall."
Scully stopped and he said then
"I think I know where to begin.
A batch of weapons were destroyed:
outdated, risky to employ.
To take a few would be quite easy
The paperwork, alas, it could be
better far than now it is
for three to get lost in the mix
would not be hard for those who knew
the codes and people and how to
cover everything with lies
that's where I'd first turn my eyes.
The paperwork, as Skinner feared,
where not wholly disappeared,
was poorly done and made no sense
'twas bordering on negligence.
The facility kept OK track
of vehicles that came and left
including date, and time, and weight
as they came and went away.
Skinner chose a month-long range
That seemed most likely to contain
The thefts that they were tracking down,
and so their scope was narrowed down.
They scoured through the traffic log
Not quite knowing what they sought.
Something in the dates and weights
that told them not all things were straight.
Three contenders reached the fore,
As much as Dana'd wanted more
They had a plan that might work out
"It could be worse", she told herself.
The next few days were hardly fun:
weigh stations, hotels, gas stations
were plotted out to track the trucks
to figure out where each one went.
As painful as the process was,
it culled the list of 3 to 1
and tracked the truck to Bakersfield
in Cali with the oil-fields.
So to LAX they flew
the 99 then led them to
the next step in this sorry tale
the hand in which the clue was held.
Here the trail turned cold at first
(suffice to say, they feared the worst),
Then a nameless letter came
that spoke of shipments large and strange
from Santa Barbara out to sea
and to a field that rarely sees
investments made of any kind
The rewards don't justify the time.
Production records showed no sign
of work done during that short time.
It seemed the trail ran out to sea
if beyond there then it may be
that the trail would then be dead
and no more could be done or said,
but first they'd need to go and see
whate'er it is the truth might be.
Now Santa Barbara-bound they were
The heliport along the shore.
A small world it truly is indeed,
for someone waited, them to greet.
From amidst a cloud of smoke
a familiar voice then spoke,
"Agents you have been expected;
my hostly duties I've neglected"
So said the hated CSM,
then Skinner spoke (but not to him),
Agent, you can deal with this.
From LA's office you can get
anything you want or need
for this to end successfully."
Now turning to the CSM
he spoke to his alleged friend.
"You led us here, what do you want?
What have you done, what have you sought?"
Skinner asked, the other spoke,
"You're here, you must already know!
You think me an incarnate devil,
just as well for you will never
know all I have done and why
or what it cost me in my life
On the platform you will see
two of the three things you seek.
The third is not for you to find,
I have my reasons, it is mine."
The CSM returned to silence,
Skinner (almost moved to violence)
spoke again with pointed questions
aimed in the CSM's direction.
"Why are you here? What are you hiding?
What on earth should we be finding
on the bayou, on the gulf
What are you hiding from us all?"
The answers gave no satisfaction,
but still they came without retraction:
"What makes you think I'm here to help?
Or that I wish your being well?
I confirm what you believe
but what, sir, have you given me?
Insults, meddling, prying eyes
when Mulder would not be alive
oh yes I know his every move
he's dead at any time we choose
out on the platform by himself
he only got there with our help.
We will get him home unharmed
but by our gift, he's only earned
a bullet set between his eyes.
Look at you, you look surprised!"
Skinner wished to hear no more
he stood and walked towards the door;
he wanted to be far away
from the game he'd lost today.
"What if, today, you were arrested?"
Skinner said, it was protested
"What charge? What can you make stick?
Illegal smoking, that is it!
But we have power at our disposal!
Your career, my friend, is over.
The X-Files, without your protection,
dead and gone, no lamentation.
Mulder, oh yes, what of him?
we've turned a blind eye, let him live;
but if we choose that eye will see
that would be bad for him, I think.
He's in a dangerous position,
you should act with more discretion,
in my hands I hold I hold his life:
Cuff them? He will surely die.
So, sir, am I free to go?",
the CSM asked, "yes or no?"
Skinner answered, "Leave me be!
I do not wish your face to see.
I do not wish your voice to hear,
I do not wish your presence near,
as long as I have life and breath. . ."
the CSM'd already left.
They found the helipad they thought
would be the helicopter's stop
and trying to avoid harsh questions
inquired of the destinations
where they went and when and such
They did not learn (alas) too much.
They ID'ed the passengers and crew
and thought that the next thing to do
would be to learn of their connections
to the CSM and his deceptions.
Alas, they found no sign of this
and were, by now, annoyed and pissed.
They sought out each one of the crew
to try to find out what they knew.
There were some useful observations
but none cracked the investigation.
Apparently the crew they ferried
was far less than the platform carried.
Some, each week, would come and go
but most were always there, they told.
"Very strange, not ordinary"
said the pilot to the query
Mulder offered as to whether
it was normal for some never
to go home, but always stay
out at sea, day after day.
Mulder's interest now was piqued.
but he knew not where to seek
the answers he knew to be hiding
in the light too brightly shining.
Again he skimmed the list he owned
of who upon the copter rode
in hopes someone might have seen
something that the X-Files team
might find to be of use to them
to bring to justice lawless men.
Arriving at the list's first house
Mulder went to look around
leaving Scully to phone Skinner
and to get a pizza sent for dinner.
Just before he rang the bell
BANG-THUMP, a shot, a body fell.
He grabbed his gun, he burst inside,
yelled "FBI", looked side to side
He heard a calm, familiar voice,
"Drop your gun, you have no choice
I'm on your side, I'm here to help
I don't want to kill you as well"
Mr. X showed Fox the corpse
he'd shot him, he had no remorse.
Mulder sought an explanation.
He got one, but no satisfaction.
"The platform's where you need to be.
But first you'll need to have ID
The security, I know, is tight
but with my help you will get by.
You'll replace him on the chopper
when it heads out o'er the water.
You'll have a week to look and learn
but then you will have to return.
I can't arrange another trip,
so get it right, for this is it.
Once you're there, I cannot help
and I'll deny we spoke, as well.
The story starts like most of them
With him you hate, the CSM
The syndicate in its possession
3 mid-level nuclear weapons.
A Middle East extremist group
(there's little that they wouldn't do
to get those bombs and use them here):
What they got, I think, is clear.
What they gave, I do not know,
but they acquired the Russian Oil:
Black Cancer, call it Purity
it did not seem to them to be
the thing they wanted for their war
that Allah's reign might be restored.
They got that for which they aspired
For what the CSM desired.
But when the bombs go off, what then?
That's perfect for the CSM!
The fear and panic of a war
will make his group yet more secure.
The platform holds the Purity,
And there the work's done secretly
The weapons are, I know not where,
and of their plans I'm not aware"
Scully now had come to look
to see why Fox, her partner, took
so long to finish and return;
she feared that something had gone wrong.
She entered as the killer left,
finding Fox alone instead.
He seemed, to her, to be in shock;
The words he spoke: Coherent? Not.
Over dinner he relaxed
and told her what had come to pass.
About the plot X had disclosed
and preventing what he had foretold.
Scully should, they felt the same,
return that night to DCA,
for "AD Skinner should be told!
This thing's too big for us to hold!"
Mulder would go on as planned
to sea in place of the dead man
and see what he could do and learn
then (they hoped) safely return.
Chapter 2: A Binary Choice (Continued)
The time has not yet come to speak
of Special Agent Scully's week,
save that her return was safe
and that she worked upon the case.
Mulder, now, has our attention;
as he drove to his destination,
reached the heliport quite early
(the liftoff was at 7:30).
He'd memorized his psuedo-name
and all that facts that with it came.
He felt as ready as he'd get,
But wished the test was not quite yet.
No one noticed Fox's presence
No one asked him any questions.
No one spoke and no one smiled
It all felt creepy for a while.
Still he could not shake the fear
Scully could not help him here.
No one could, he was alone;
the feeling of control was gone.
The retinal scan was a surprise;
he hardly could believe his eyes
when he passed without incident
(What X had promised, he had meant).
Mr. X gave him no training
or description of the tasks awaiting.
Fox felt very unprepared
but it seemed that the people there
like him, didn't a clue
or even any work to do.
They sat around, they watched TV
anything to pass the week.
Mulder kept things to himself
exploring when he could as well
but there were doors that would not open
options that could not be chosen.
Rooms he wasn't cleared to enter
Where (he assumed) the action's centered.
By day 6, his courage bolstered
(even without gun or holster),
Fox had turned his normal paces
towards locked doors, forbidden places
In pocket of his pants
he'd found a card not there by chance
nor by his will had it got there
But Mr. X prepares with care
And staged it to be found that day
Putting everything in place
for Mulder to now see the things
that taunted and dispatched belief.
But he (quite rare) was well prepared.
Nothing they could show him there
would shock him more than all the things
in his life he'd already seen.
And so, still calm, he saw half-grown
living hybrid embryos.
He took a sample of the oil
(A souvenir for all his toil),
Raided files and stole some papers
Decided then to end the caper.
Went back to his room with fear:
did they know that he had been there?
Were they coming, would he die?
He could not fall asleep that night.
Well before the sunrise came
the copter took them all away.
Across the water, back to land
where Mulder could feel safe again.
What he could do, he felt he'd done
He'd fought the fight, he felt he'd won.
He missed Miss Scully, even Skinner
If he could cook, he'd make them dinner
just to hear them speak again,
to see them coming to meet him.
the week apart had seemed so long
and he was ready to go home.
Chapter 2: A Binary Choice (Continued)
Now Scully's story can be told
how that week did, for her, unfold.
Remember, this tale's Skinner's, too
and of their friend both nothing knew.
She called up Skinner while she waited
For the flight to DCA and
told him all that she'd been told
and all the facts as they were known.
He told her to go home and sleep,
and come next morning they would see
What means to take to solve the case
and make the danger go away.
Skinner knew the sides were drawn,
and which side everyone was on.
Mulder would be compromised
If her tale were to see the light.
"Still, the danger must be faced
a wish won't make it go away"
he thought and sighed, and hung his head
he wished he knew what to do next.
He went home late and came in early
A little tired, a little surly.
Still unsure of what to do
"Agent Scully, how are you"
He said as she stood at his door
"Well, I got to bed at 4,
But four hours' sleep isn't bad
when none is the alternative.
But you, sir, look like you are reeling,
Please do tell me how you're feeling."
She replied, it was his turn,
"A few small steps above an urn.
But that's not what matters now,
the weapons must be found somehow.
Trust is now an unsafe bet,
for everyone is in their debt"
Scully drifted off in thought,
longing for a simpler 'ought'
Things were now so complicated
They lied, deceived, and obfuscated.
"Then sir, I think the task is ours
we must do all within our power.
And if we fail, God help us all,
but we will try before we fall."
Scully stopped and he said then
"I think I know where to begin.
A batch of weapons were destroyed:
outdated, risky to employ.
To take a few would be quite easy
The paperwork, alas, it could be
better far than now it is
for three to get lost in the mix
would not be hard for those who knew
the codes and people and how to
cover everything with lies
that's where I'd first turn my eyes.
The paperwork, as Skinner feared,
where not wholly disappeared,
was poorly done and made no sense
'twas bordering on negligence.
The facility kept OK track
of vehicles that came and left
including date, and time, and weight
as they came and went away.
Skinner chose a month-long range
That seemed most likely to contain
The thefts that they were tracking down,
and so their scope was narrowed down.
They scoured through the traffic log
Not quite knowing what they sought.
Something in the dates and weights
that told them not all things were straight.
Three contenders reached the fore,
As much as Dana'd wanted more
They had a plan that might work out
"It could be worse", she told herself.
The next few days were hardly fun:
weigh stations, hotels, gas stations
were plotted out to track the trucks
to figure out where each one went.
As painful as the process was,
it culled the list of 3 to 1
and tracked the truck to Bakersfield
in Cali with the oil-fields.
So to LAX they flew
the 99 then led them to
the next step in this sorry tale
the hand in which the clue was held.
Here the trail turned cold at first
(suffice to say, they feared the worst),
Then a nameless letter came
that spoke of shipments large and strange
from Santa Barbara out to sea
and to a field that rarely sees
investments made of any kind
The rewards don't justify the time.
Production records showed no sign
of work done during that short time.
It seemed the trail ran out to sea
if beyond there then it may be
that the trail would then be dead
and no more could be done or said,
but first they'd need to go and see
whate'er it is the truth might be.
Now Santa Barbara-bound they were
The heliport along the shore.
A small world it truly is indeed,
for someone waited, them to greet.
From amidst a cloud of smoke
a familiar voice then spoke,
"Agents you have been expected;
my hostly duties I've neglected"
So said the hated CSM,
then Skinner spoke (but not to him),
Agent, you can deal with this.
From LA's office you can get
anything you want or need
for this to end successfully."
Now turning to the CSM
he spoke to his alleged friend.
"You led us here, what do you want?
What have you done, what have you sought?"
Skinner asked, the other spoke,
"You're here, you must already know!
You think me an incarnate devil,
just as well for you will never
know all I have done and why
or what it cost me in my life
On the platform you will see
two of the three things you seek.
The third is not for you to find,
I have my reasons, it is mine."
The CSM returned to silence,
Skinner (almost moved to violence)
spoke again with pointed questions
aimed in the CSM's direction.
"Why are you here? What are you hiding?
What on earth should we be finding
on the bayou, on the gulf
What are you hiding from us all?"
The answers gave no satisfaction,
but still they came without retraction:
"What makes you think I'm here to help?
Or that I wish your being well?
I confirm what you believe
but what, sir, have you given me?
Insults, meddling, prying eyes
when Mulder would not be alive
oh yes I know his every move
he's dead at any time we choose
out on the platform by himself
he only got there with our help.
We will get him home unharmed
but by our gift, he's only earned
a bullet set between his eyes.
Look at you, you look surprised!"
Skinner wished to hear no more
he stood and walked towards the door;
he wanted to be far away
from the game he'd lost today.
"What if, today, you were arrested?"
Skinner said, it was protested
"What charge? What can you make stick?
Illegal smoking, that is it!
But we have power at our disposal!
Your career, my friend, is over.
The X-Files, without your protection,
dead and gone, no lamentation.
Mulder, oh yes, what of him?
we've turned a blind eye, let him live;
but if we choose that eye will see
that would be bad for him, I think.
He's in a dangerous position,
you should act with more discretion,
in my hands I hold I hold his life:
Cuff them? He will surely die.
So, sir, am I free to go?",
the CSM asked, "yes or no?"
Skinner answered, "Leave me be!
I do not wish your face to see.
I do not wish your voice to hear,
I do not wish your presence near,
as long as I have life and breath. . ."
the CSM'd already left.