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CONVENTION CENTER

WASHINGTON D.C.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1999

0900

"Mulder, I am not changing into that."

"Scully, we're going under cover. You have to change into it—it's a requirement for admission."

"It's not a requirement, and you know it. Anyone could walk in there with normal clothes and no one would ask any questions."

"If we want to blend in, we need to look alike, and we need to look like the Trekkies," Mulder said. He sat behind the steering wheel of the car, parked in the lot outside the convention center. He was already dressed in a Starfleet uniform, and had brought Scully's in a garment bag that hung in the back seat when he had picked her up from her apartment. If she changed in the bathroom just outside the admission door, no one would think anything of it.

"Just because you look like a dork doesn't mean I have to."

Mulder looked shocked and hurt at her words. And even as she knew he was making that face on purpose, now he had made her feel guilty. She groaned. "Fine. But just for one day. Then you're finding me a jumpsuit."

He grinned, not giving away his little secret. It was supposed to be a surprise for later, and it was much more fun this way.

Mulder exited the car, and his partner followed. He was concealing his weapon under a 'First Contact' Starfleet uniform, the compact .380 having been approved for this covert mission. Mulder presented Scully with her garment bag, and she looked inside again, and groaned. "You had to get a damn miniskirt, Mulder!"

"It comes with leggings! And this is standard issue for The Original Series." He eyed her playfully. "I think I'm gonna have to start calling you Yeoman Rand, Scully."

"Try anything and I'll feed you to a targ, Mulder," she replied flatly.

He was impressed with her use of the knowledge they had gathered in the past two days. Well…the knowledge she had gathered. His knowledge of Star Trek was still secure in his photographic memory, even from all those years ago. He had to brush up on the newer series, though.

They walked toward the building, the tickets secured in Mulder's pocket. He had to wear normal black Dockers so he had room for his handcuffs, badge, and wallet. But they were no less convincing with the proper tunic and red turtleneck, complete with four rank pips and a communicator on his left breast. He felt it was only fitting to get Scully science 'blue', and to avoid being kicked out an airlock, he made sure she had equal rank.

Mulder waited outside the women's restroom for nearly twenty minutes. He was beginning to worry before Scully finally walked out, garment bag securing her jeans and shirt she had worn in. Her high boots click-clacked on the tiles, and Mulder's eyes climbed from the leather to the leggings, then to the short blue dress with a wide, black neck. He was absolutely turned on. He whistled for good measure.

"That took forever. There must have been fifteen other women in there, and there are only two stalls," she said, annoyed. "Let's go put the bag in the car. And then we'll go in."

He agreed, eyes never leaving her figure. She looked up at his boyish stare, and rolled her eyes. "Mulder, will you cut it out?"

"I'm sorry, I just can't help it," Mulder said. "There's something very sexy about a Starfleet captain in blue instead of yellow…"

"You got Frohike to sew these stripes on, didn't you?"

"It was the only way I could get a captain's rank on a blue dress," he said. They dropped the garment bag in the car, and then walked back to the convention center. By then, the line to get in was at least a half hour long. "Looks like we'll get a chance to mingle," Mulder said with a smile.

"Just try to remember why we're here, Mulder," she told him sternly.

He gave her a look that was somehow innocent yet mischievous. They got in line, and quickly found that Trekkies were friendly.

"Nice uniform! Where'd you get that?" A man in a Next Gen security uniform asked. He was directly in front of them, but turned around to admire Mulder's attire.

"We made them," Mulder said smoothly. "New Force was all sold out and we needed some new ones. Old ones were too worn out."

"New Force is always sold out," the man complained. "You know, I saw an ad for a the new Enterprise-D for $49.99 on New Force, and I tried to grab it, but it was gone in like thirty seconds! I can't believe people are buying them that fast."

"Well, it's the first model since the original came out a year ago, so people are bound to be a little excited," Mulder said with a smile. "So is this your first convention?"

"Oh, God no. I've been to probably thirty, forty by now. I go to every one I can. How about you guys? Are you…together?"

He seemed a little nervous, Scully thought. She wondered if that was because he was socially awkward or because he knew something… "We're friends," Scully said with a smile. She extended her hand. "I'm Linda."

"Nice to meet you, Linda. I'm Pete," he said, shaking her hand and giving her a winning smile. He turned to Mulder and shook his hand as well.

"I'm John," Mulder introduced.

"It's nice to meet you too, John. So who sews, you or Linda? Because you both have very nice…very unique uniforms. Captain's stripes on a blue Original Series women's uniform…"

"John sews," Scully said with a smile. "He's into that sort of thing. Does a lot of knitting in his spare time."

"I like to make doilies, too," Mulder said, his voice deadpan.

"Oh," Pete seemed surprised. "That's…that's nice," he said, and smiled. The line moved.

"So Pete, you've been to a lot of conventions—what ones have you been to recently? Do you travel?"

"I try to keep the expense down, so I go to the ones along the East Coast. I was in New York last week for a business trip—I stayed an extra day to go to the convention. That was when that little girl was taken. It was so horrible…you've heard about all these kids being taken from these, I'm sure."

"It's been on the news," Scully said. "Did you see anything while you were there?"

"No, I didn't see anything until the police started searching. It's so horrible. To think someone would target harmless little Trekkies. These children are the future. It's just…inconceivable. Did you see the message boards, on the convention websites?"

Mulder nodded. "Yeah, they're encouraging parents to keep their kids with them during the convention."

"With everything going on, I'm surprised it's so crowded here today," Scully said.

"Well, you know Trekkies—we're a resilient bunch. We're not going to let some thug stop us from having fun. What kind of message does that send to him?"

"We're Starfleet Officers, not a bunch of Ferengi," Mulder said with a smile.

"I resent that," a short woman behind them said. Mulder and Scully turned, to see the woman dressed in a Ferengi's costume, complete with the facial make-up, and the teeth. Mulder tried not to laugh at his partner's carefully contained reaction.

Fifteen minutes later, they were granted admission and encouraged to attend the free talk with Cirroc Lofton, Armin Shimmerman, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner. Mulder had anticipated that Spiner would be at the convention, and as such he had brought a backpack with folders to keep the autographs and other merchandise they might buy, and have signed. He was disappointed that Leonard Nimoy wasn't going to be there, but he couldn't ask for everything. The chances that his work would collide with a Star Trek convention were slim as it was.

They decided to browse first, but stay together. They would look through merchandise, talk to the vendors, buy a few things, and then get in the autograph lines. Hopefully, through talking to these Trekkies, they'd learn something.

One thing they had learned online was that Trekkies and Trekkers were not one and the same. Quite literally, they were, but neither group acknowledged the other as 'true' Star Trek fans. It had confused Scully, but Mulder had created an absurd analogy to tribal law, and his partner had stopped asking.

While looking at 5" Playmates action figures, Mulder overheard a conversation between a vendor and a green woman.

"I heard about all these children being taken…it's hard to believe anyone would do that."

"I know," the vendor said. "Obviously not one of us—someone who snuck in and took them. Probably knew the layout of the convention centers or something. A Trekker wouldn't do that."

"Neither would a Trekkie," the woman said with an affirmative nod.

Nothing interesting so far, Mulder thought. It wasn't all that different from conversations they had been hearing in various locations around the convention center.

"You notice not many parents brought their kids today," the man told her. "It's probably better. Give this perv less of a chance to snag 'em."

"There was a couple taken, too. In their twenties," the woman told him. "So not just kids."

"A well-rounded perv," the vendor stated bitterly.

Mulder put down the action figure he was holding, and picked up another, then compared the two.

"You're gonna think I'm nuts, but have you ever heard of the Beamers?"

The man shook his head, but leaned in, interested. Mulder edged a little closer, and Scully, not far away, caught his signal to approach.

"They're a fairly new group. They believe that we're all gonna be beamed up eventually by visitors from the future. I can't discount that theory because…well…I sort of believe there are time travelers out there, somewhere. But they believe in a deadline. And I saw an Internet forum that suggested it was approaching. Next week."

Mulder was completely attentive, and the vendor turned to him, seeing he had joined their conversation. "Well, what do you think?" the vendor asked him.

"Me? I'm a little skeptical of that kind of thing," Mulder said. "I'd need some proof." An old trick. One that always works. "What makes you so sure there are time travelers out there?" he asked with a friendly smile, trying not to stare at the green woman's bare skin and exposed cleavage.

"Aside from the one in 'The Traveler', Next Gen first season with Wesley?" she asked with a slight laugh.

Damn. Drop-dead sexy and a knowledgeable Trekkie. This green woman was quite a package. Focus, Mulder.

"I guess, the fact that there have been things we can't quite explain. Go to the Beamer's website. It's got enough information on it to give you some evidence. I believe them that there are time travelers here, but I don't know about us all being beamed up. I just hate to think that maybe they're responsible…you know, for those kids."

"You think they're violent?" Mulder asked her, professional mode taking over.

"I don't know. I've only been to their site a few times. They just seem more like a cult than a group of Trekkies to me."

"Hey, John, I found some replacement rank pips over there," Scully said, tapping Mulder on his shoulder. The unspoken question was there.

"I'll be right there. Make sure no one takes 'em," Mulder said. Scully nodded, and walked away.

"So you've got a girlfriend," the green woman asked with a smile.

Mulder couldn't help but smile back. "You could say that…"

"You don't happen to know of a place to get a good Starfleet phaser, do you?"

Her question surprised him. This typically wasn't how one flirted…but with Trekkies…who knew? "New Force has some good stuff. There are other online places. Auction sites and things like that…" he said.

"Do you want to buy that Spock?" The vendor asked, breaking up the conversation. Mulder realized he had been holding the 5" Spock in his hand for quite some time now.

"Sure," he answered with a smile, and handed the action figure to the vendor. He got his wallet out, and turned back to the woman as he pulled out a ten dollar bill. "So whose autograph are you hoping to get today?"

"Brent Spiner for sure," she answered with a grin. "How about you?"

"I'm definitely here to see Mr. Data," Mulder said. He could see Scully out of the corner of his eye, and realized she could hear them. "People tend to say I'm like him."

"That's interesting. I've always wanted to see how that android anatomy worked," the woman told him.

Now Mulder was getting a bit uncomfortable. This forward motion was a little too…'forward'…for him. He smiled politely and took a step back as he took the bag from the vendor.

"If you're fully functional, Mr. Data, please give me a call," the green woman told him, and slipped a piece of paper out of a pocket Mulder didn't know she had. She handed him the paper, and winked as she walked away.

Scully approached. "Are you fully functional, John?" She asked him with a slightly smug smile.

Mulder rolled his eyes, and pocketed the paper. But as they walked away, he whispered in her ear, "Only for other androids, Mrs. Data."