Rory lay with Mulder on the ground and watched the lights dance above them in the sky.

"You expect me to believe that USAF men are piloting alien space ships around my project area as part of a training exercise?"

"US pilots flying alien craft doing maneuvers, yes," replied Mulder, still awed by their flight.

Rory sucked on her bottom lip for a moment. "That's silly."

Two crafts dived towards them again, plummeting down from the sky with a fierce roar.

A trickle of blood slithered out of Mulder's nose.

Rory got her breath back after some hurried praying. "OK, sure. Pilots in alien ships. Works for me, why not," she said quickly. "But what does this have to do with the guy you were after?"

"He was a decoy, a lure to get me here; it wasn't him. How would you go about destroying those caves?" Mulder asked, still looking longingly up at the sky.

"Uhhh, well, I'd put mining charges in the cave or you could put concentrated acid in the groundwater, that might erode the limestone layer they are in. Not very practical though. I don't know."

"Anything you can think of. Anything at all. How would you do it? Thermonuclear weapon?"

"Bit messy, lots of radiation and they leave distinctive seismic traces. Hell, bollide impact, place explosives along pre-existing fault planes…"

"Say you were in enemy territory," began Mulder, "and you had to get in and out relatively quickly."

"Resonance," Rory blurted out.

"Resonance. How resonance?"

"Place a series of charges along the area, and detonate simultaneously!"

"Would it work to depth?"

"Well, soldiers have to break step before crossing bridges or else it would collapse. I have no idea how much explosives you need. Look you said you wanted ideas- tactical weapons isn't exactly my field," she paused. "You'd have to lay them pretty fast, though."

Mulder pointed silently to the sky.

She looked away suddenly. "The nerve!"

"What?"

"This is my field area. They might have killed me."Rory's nostrils flared in rage.

"You were supposed to leave two weeks ago, remember." Mulder said quietly.

"They needed my survey for what they were doing?"

"Imogen is probably a subsidiary of the government. That's how your grant got through so fast."

"So I'm working for them…"

"I'd assume so. It is all a little too convenient."

Rory looked back to the sky for a moment. "The nerve. They aren't getting this Brunton compass back that's for sure..."

"Look," Mulder said. "Get your stuff together and get out of here, now. Tonight."

"What will you be doing?" she asked, scrambling up after him.

"I'm gonna check out the caves. I'll meet you at the car in a hour."


Rory was stuffing her notebook and disks into a metal case when Scully staggered into the tent, her body covered in mud, gun held high.

"FBI. Where's Mulder?'

"Oh no," sighed Rory, "not Mu too."

"Where is he!"

"He went to check out the cave system, why?"

Scully paused before she flew out of the tent. "This is a testing ground for ground penetration weapons!"

Rory opened her mouth to explain that they already knew, that they had worked it out and had a few models of what might happen.

Then Scully said the words, "Nuclear weapons," and then it didn't seem all that important.

She followed Scully out of the tent.

"Wait," she cried. "He'll meet us by the cars, he's probably already there by now! Follow me!"

Rory led Scully to the edge of the cliff.

"We can't out run nuclear explosions!" protested Scully as Rory pressed two shoe-sized rocks into her hands. "What are you doing?"

"We can try. Hold these." Rory looked down at the eighty-foot high talus slope. She tossed the case over the edge. "Besides, it's more fun this way. I've been wanting to do this for four weeks."

"Do what?"

"Sit on your right foot and lay your left leg out in front of you," Rory said quickly as she squatted down. "Use the rocks in your hands to steer."

"You must be joking." Scully stared in dismay at the rocks scattered beneath the cliff below her.

"The important thing is to keep sitting on your foot. Other wise your spinal column will be renting space with your cerebellum."

And then Rory was gone.

Scully cursed several times and then pushed off down the slope after her.