Chapter 9

No one else reported seeing the UFO. Nina and Walter listened to Astrid and Peter describe their encounter with great interest.

"It was huge!" Astrid said. "Actually, it was hard to tell because it was triangular. And I couldn't tell how big it was because I couldn't tell how high off the ground it was. And I couldn't tell how high off the ground it was because I couldn't tell how big it was. And I couldn't tell how fast it was because I couldn't tell how big it was."

Peter stared at the ground, frowning. "It doesn't make sense," he said. "It doesn't make any sense. Whoever was piloting that thing obviously didn't need lights for navigation, and it was maneuverable enough that it didn't need lights to keep anything else from hitting it. Obviously it knew where we were even before flying over our position, so it obviously wasn't usind the lights as search lights, so why did it have lights at all? If they really are visitors from another planet trying to study us in secret, why draw attention to themselves with lights? And if it's some kind of top secret government project to make people think there are aliens—I don't know why they'd do that, other than maybe so people will accept a bigger military budget or demand increased funding for NASA—then why wouldn't they tell us? I mean, we're Fringe Division; they'd tell us, right? So why did it have lights? It makes no sense."

"Son," Walter said, "what does your watch say?"

Peter glanced at his watch. "It says 12:32 a.m. Why?"

"Because mine says 12:40 a.m."

"So does mine," Nina said, sounding curious.

"Astrid, my dear, do you have a watch?"

"No. Just my cell phone."

"Does it have service out here?"

She checked. "No."

"Fantastic. So it won't adjust the time automatically. What time does it have?"

"12:33 a.m.," she said in amazement.

"We're missing about eight minutes," Peter said. "What does that mean?"

"I have no idea," Walter said. "Exciting, isn't it?"

Mulder heard a knock at the door of his hotel room. He opened it to find Nina Sharp.

"Good morning, Agent Mulder," she said.

"Mulder," he said. "You can just call me Mulder. I don't think the FBI will claim me anymore."

"I don't know about that. I'm sure Fringe Division would love to have you on their team. And if you'd like something slower-paced, I'll happily have you at Massive Dynamic. I don't know if you've had breakfast yet. I brought you a bagel and a green tea latte, and one for myself. I hope you don't mind. May I come in?"

She struck Mulder as someone who didn't often get 'no' for an answer, but he hadn't eaten yet and he could smell the freshly toasted bagels in the bag she was carrying.

He gestured her into his hotel room, where she began to arrange breakfast items on the counter.

"We found Dr. Wang this morning," she said.

"That's good news. Where was he?"

"About three miles away from where he went missing. It's a spot that search and rescue had been over several times. One of our helicopters spotted him walking there before sunrise this morning. He seems alright, but he's confused, and he claims he can't remember anything since the launch six days ago." She turned, handing him a whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and a large green tea latte.

"Any physical abnormalities?" Mulder asked.

"That depends on what you mean. He was in good health. He wasn't malnourished or dehydrated. Not even a sunburn. In sum, he's abnormally healthy for someone who's supposedly been wandering the desert for six and a half days."

"He would be. If that was really where he's been. You'll want to have him examined for any foreign objects in his body, and for radiation."

"We'll do that." She began eating her own bagel quite casually. "Peter Bishop and Astrid Farnsworth saw what they describe as a UFO last night."

"Really?"

"Unfortunately neither of them thought to photograph it. I shouldn't tell you too much; I'm sure they're eager to talk to you about it themselves."

Mulder nodded.

"You don't seem surprised that they had a close encounter," Nina noted.

"I'm not. I've investigated cases like this...multiple UFO sighting frequently occur in the same area. UFO hotspots."

"Yes." Nina smiled. "And if he was abducted by aliens, they'd have to make a second appearance to bring him back."

Mulder sipped the green tea latte. He'd never had one before, and he wasn't sure what he thought of the taste. He wasn't sure what he thought of anything.

"If you know my cases so well, I don't know how much more I can tell you."

"Well, there's official reports, and then there's opinions," Nina replied. "Massive Dynamic, as you may know, works on cutting edge technology. Corporate espionage is a constant problem. And whatever we're dealing with here… I have been working for years on events known as the Pattern, and I've been told you've been read in on the things Fringe Division deals with. In spite of the advances we've made since your time, we still haven't been able to determine the cause of all reported abductions, and there are some flying objects that, despite our best efforts, remain unidentified. Attempts to link them to other Pattern events have yielded weak correlations at best. There was one amusing incident in which we were comparing notes with a cooperative agent of a rival organization—perhaps 'cooperative' is too strong a word. We questioned him about a communication disruption that corresponded to a light in the sky at a location I'm not at liberty to divulge. We had believed they were responsible for it, but he insisted they had been affected by the same phenomenon and were equally convinced it was our doing. Anyway, the fact of the matter is, we have no better idea where these so-called crafts are coming from or who's piloting them than anyone, and we find that extremely disturbing. We've even caught a number of them on radar and video through our global weather-monitoring stations, and we still don't know what they are. They seem to defy analysis."

"It sounds like you know exactly as much as I do," Mulder said.

"In terms of raw data, we know considerably more than you, though much of what we know, or at least much of what we believe we understand, is informed by your investigations, by your theories. The opinion I would value from you right now is: what do you think happened to my scientist in the six days he was missing? How much do alien abductions change someone's personality? To what extent, Agent Mulder, do you believe I can still trust him?"

Mulder sighed and pressed his knuckles to his forehead. "To tell you the truth, I don't know. Like you explained UFOs, abduction experiences defy analysis. Some people report them as transcendental, life-altering experiences, some people are traumatized for life. My own partner was abducted, and when she came back, she was still the person I knew before, the person I was closer to than anyone else. Other cases I investigated haven't been so…" He shook his head and shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I just woke up from fifteen years of a life that was all in my head. Any answers I ever thought I had, I don't have them anymore."

"I understand." Nina finished her latte, but made no move to leave. She looked at Mulder for a long moment. "I came here to thank you for your help in locating our scientist," she said. "I don't think we would have found him without you. I also came here with the intention of offering you a position with our company. I wasn't lying when I said how much I admire your work. Whether you take me up on that offer or not, If there's anything Massive Dynamic can do for you, please let me know. We're at your service."

"I appreciate it."

"We've already put our best investigators on the job of taking a fresh look at your shooting in '98, and the disappearance of Dana Scully. I'll let you know as soon as we have any leads."

Mulder looked up at her. "Thank you."

Though he was legitimately touched by the gesture, he wasn't optimistic.

"It's the least we can do." Nina made a move toward the door.

"There's one more thing," Mulder said, his investigative instincts kicking in. "You should have Dr. Wang undergo guided hypnosis to see if he recovers any memories of the abduction."

"It's already scheduled."

"I'd like to be there when it happens."

She nodded graciously. "Of course."