The restaurant, as Scully had hoped, was located directly on the water. Large windows were open all around, and a wonderful breeze ruffled white tablecloths. Mulder was right, it was carefree, albeit oozing with popularity.
"What are you getting, Scully?"
"Pasta."
"Pasta? First the clothes, now..."
"Mulder, it has shrimp and scallops in it."
"Fine, fine, get what you want. I'm having crab."
After they had ordered, Scully looked out the window while Mulder steered the subject towards work. "So, earlier while I was soaking up some rays I got a phone call from a Dr. Eleanor Ingram, a biologist who studies the threats sea creatures pose to human beings. She has an office in Key West that she wants us to come visit tomorrow. About the case."
"Exactly what kind of work does she do?"
"You know, I'm not sure exactly. She told me that she sometimes investigates cases like this."
"How often are there cases like this?"
"More often than you would think."
"Really."
"Yeah. I mean, mysterious drownings, shark attacks..."
"Aren't those just what they sound like?"
"Maybe, but you know 95 percent of the world's oceans are unexplored. Who knows what's out there, Scully. I mean, if there are vast areas of the sea humanity has never come in contact with, how are we to know that something truly dangerous isn't out there, waiting to strike?"
"Mulder, that's crazy. Even if there were something like that alive and existing, what are the odds it would ever find land? Mangroves, at that?"
"Well, we'll just see what Dr. Ingram has to say."
Scully began staring out the window again.
When they had arrived back at their hotel, it was dark, and when Scully opened the door to her room she caught a brief glance out the window. Where the sea stretched, there was only darkness as far as she could see. There was no moon tonight, and no boats danced on the waves. There was only nothing. As she got ready for bed, she did her best not to think about what Mulder had told her, knowing that there was most likely no validity in it, and tried to see the water as she always had: peaceful and welcoming.
The next morning, Scully and Mulder piled in the car and began the trek to Key West. Scully drove, and Mulder commented on the color of the water and even made them stop for shopping on a few occasions, until it started raining.
Once they had gotten there, Mulder went to a convenience store to pick up a disposable camera and insisted they take a picture at the monument that marked the southernmost point in the continental US. They waited in line to stand by it, and although Scully was almost at the end of her rope and it looked like it might rain again soon, she pulled through.
"Smile big, Scully!" Said Mulder as a stranger took their picture. Scully managed a small smile.
They drove through downtown while making their way to Dr. Ingram's office, and once they had they found it to be much larger than they were expecting it to be. They opened the door and walked in, amazed by what they saw. On one wall was a giant tank, as big as the wall itself, filled with creatures and fish off all kind. There were small, waist-high plastic bins scattered about the floor, and upon inspection they appeared to be filled with tiny jellyfish. In the same place were desks overflowing with papers and books, and a side table with a coffee mug.
"Mulder, this is unbelievable," whispered Scully.
"Hello? Agent Mulder?" Called a feminine voice. Out from another room walked a tall, thin young woman with dark brown hair tied in a messy braid. She was wearing jeans and a plain blue t-shirt. As she approached the two agents, she pushed reading glasses onto her forehead.
"Are you Dr. Ingram?" Asked Mulder.
"Yes. You're Agent Mulder? And Scully?"
"Yes."
"Great. Please follow me."
She began to lead them into the room she had come out of, but she stopped by a plastic bin. "These little guys are kind of an experiment I started a while ago. I'm observing their growth patterns in water with different levels of salt content. Once they begin really growing up, I'll test to see if the water has made any affect on the pain of their sting."
"What's the purpose?" Asked Scully.
"Um...oh, strictly personal knowledge," Dr. Ingram said, quickly moving on. "Unfortunately, some of my studies are at a tiny bit of a standstill. A big part of my income comes from the state, and my funding has been cut. I've recently moved in here, which accounts for the mess."
She took Mulder and Scully toward the back of her office and unlocked a sturdy door. She brushed her braid away from her shoulder as she went through and revealed a very small room. The concrete floor only went halfway, and the rest was ocean water, coming in in small waves. "This is where I release most of the animals back into the wild. Oh, and sometimes I store larger specimens here as well."
Mulder pointed to the largest pen she had, a huge cage with thick, iron bars. There was a misshapen hole in the farthest side of the pen. "I see that one's broken."
"Oh, yes. It's been that way for a few weeks now. I just haven't gotten around to getting it fixed yet," said Dr. Ingram.
After the tour was finished, the three sat down in Dr. Ingram's personal office, her at her desk and Mulder and Scully on separate chairs. "The reason I called you, Agent Mulder, is that I've been looking into this case myself. It's truly extraordinary. Of course, that isn't to say something like it hasn't happened before."
"Please enlighten us," said Scully, beginning to mentally check out.
"Well, a few years ago, a man was out snorkeling and he took...this picture..." She searched for it and finally handed it to Mulder. It was a picture of a long, gray fish with what appeared to be tentacles for fins and a tail. "A barracuda with the tentacles of a box jellyfish," finished Dr. Ingram.
"This photo could easily be counterfeit, Dr. Ingram," said Scully.
"Perhaps, but in my research I've concluded that such genetic mutations are likely and not altogether outside the realm of possibility. There have also been stories of harmless nurse sharks developing sting ray tails, or even fish showing some of the properties of electric eels."
"Dr. Ingram, in your opinion, is something like this to blame for what happened to Adrian Mercer?" Asked Mulder.
"Yes. I don't see another possibility, and all I truly want to do is get to the bottom of this and find out how to stop it."
"You think it will kill again," said Scully, not asking.
"Well...I mean, I don't know. Since I wasn't there with Adrian Mercer, there's no telling if he provoked it, or if this thing killed him for killing sake."
"Why would any sort of animal do that?" Scully asked.
"Agent Scully, creatures of the sea are amazing life forces. The dangers they possess are unlike any animal on land. While it is true that most creatures attack out of self-defense or as a way of getting food, who's to say that of these beings were to somehow genetically morph that there demeanor wouldn't at all change?"
"How do you suppose we got about catching this thing?" said Mulder.
"I don't know. Perhaps the two of you could come back tomorrow. I might have some more answers then."
"Okay. Well, thank you, Dr. Ingram. And I was meaning to ask you, what's that guy's story?" Mulder pointed to a well furnished fish tank with a small jellyfish swimming rhythmically inside.
"That's Fern. She's sort of my pet. We go way back, Fern and I." She smiled and began to show the agents out.