o========================================o "Archaea" (Part 29 of 29) Author: Mary Ruth Keller E-mail: mkeller@universe.digex.net Disclaimed in Part 1 o========================================o Cave Franklin Bay Thursday, 5:11 am "Byers?" Nichols grasped his shoulder. "Let's see about getting that radio powered up. We've been snug in there, with the tent and all, but the others were exposed to the brunt of the weather." Slipping back into the opening, the men returned with the black transmitter box. Rosen and Frohike joined them. The dark-haired agent touched her partner's shoulder. "Anything?" They listened as Byers called for an answer, but received none, so the two agents excused themselves to speak in private. "Nic, I can reach them on foot in a hour over this terrain, moving at a trot, no more." She held up her hands. "No sweat, literally. You know that." Nichols nodded. "I know, I just don't like it, Ros. They may be hurt, or the receiver may be busted, then you'll have to come right back here. Who knows how many men are waiting at the actual craft to attempt to take the aliens into custody?" She was arguing vigorously when the others joined them. Byers stood beside her. "You have to let her try, Agent Nichols. It may be the only way..." The older man submitted, attempting a small joke. "The flaws of a democracy. I see I'm outvoted three to one." They returned to the cave, outfitting the slender woman with an many supplies as she could comfortably carry, then waved her off. Nichols crossed his arms. "Go like the wind, kid." --o-0-o-- Ridge Franklin Bay Thursday, 6:23 am Mulder stumbled on the loose slate they were crossing, falling to his bruised knees one more time. He shivered, resisting Scully's attempts to pull him to his feet. "Hurts." Catching his tight-lipped smile, the auburn-haired woman sank beside him. "I know. But, Langly's right, we have to keep moving, we're not that far away, Mulder. Come on!" As she purposely tugged the right arm, the pain from the broken collarbone jolted him, and when his head cleared, he stood, following silently. The Gunman was several yards ahead on a rise. "I see it! They left the tent alone!" It was the boost the agents needed, so they scrabbled down the cliff after him, all three coming to a halt ten yards from the orange shelter. Mulder was gasping. "It might be a trap. Look for wires." They circled, seeking explosives or evidence of disturbed stones. Finally, Scully fell to her hands in front of the tent, lowering the zipper. "It's okay. I think they were only interested in the aliens." At her words, Langly scrambled up the ridge, digging into a pile of stones. "It's here, Mulder, we have proof!" He was holding the camera aloft, then stopped, his eyes focused on the horizon. "The cavalry is coming, hang on, guys!" He had spotted Rosen, jogging over the rocks with an indifferent ease, until she glimpsed the shouting figure, then she broke into a run. Spent, Mulder reached into the tent, seeking the water he knew was in Scully's sleeping bag. The diminutive woman remained standing only long enough for the younger agent to reach them. "Rosen." The dark-haired woman nodded. "We're fine, Scully. Let me at your radio, okay?" As the older woman crawled in, she passed the black receiver out, gasping when the weight pulled on her ribs. Rosen spoke quickly to reassure her. "You'll be all right. Nic and the others will have Baird on the way. Get some rest." Scully nodded blankly as she tore off her wet boots, sliding her swollen feet into her sleeping bag, offering silent thanks when Rosen zipped it up around her. After a moment's thought, the Gunman had bent down to unlace Mulder's boots and guide him into his bag. "Hey, Mulder, let me help you with that." But Langly left him free to pull the bedding up around his shoulders himself. Rosen bent over the transmitter. "Nichols? Byers? Frohike?" She increased the transmit power. "Anybody hear me out there?" There was a burst of static, then a welcome reply, "How does it looks at your end, partner?" She grinned. "Nic! They're here at the tent." She glanced back at the two exhausted agents. "I think they had a run-in with more than just the aliens, but they'll be okay, once they see a doctor." Langly took the mike from her. "Only a broken bone here and there. Just contact Baird so he can bring the plane and everything will be fine." Langly's joyful protests at the other agents' praise were the last thing Scully remembered, before the rushing in her ears drowned out any other sounds. --o-0-o-- Queens Hospital Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada Saturday, August 2, 1997 9:21 am Mulder's lashes fluttered, then he spoke a single word. "Scully." Remembering he had a vague sense she was beside him after his collapse, he began groping around the bed, feeling a sudden blinding pain in his right shoulder. "Hey, don't do that." A hand, small and cool, landed on his arm. "She's okay. She's in the bed right next to you, Mulder, still asleep." He focused on a woman's face, seemingly hanging in space before him. "Rosen?" Rolling onto his side, away from the pain, he muttered, "How? Where are the others?" He glanced over at his partner, who was, as promised, resting, facing him on her side, her eyes closed. Mulder began to pull the covers back, to slide off the bed to cross over to her, but found himself in a heap on the floor instead. Rosen slipped her arm around his back. "Frohike warned me about your homing instinct, Mulder. We had to go up to the hospital administrator, all five of us. Byers and Langly convinced him that if you two weren't in sight of each other when you woke up, he'd have to replace his entire staff by the end of the week from you fussing about it. Here, let me help you." She guided him across the room, supporting him while he touched his partner's face, stroked her hair. "Scully." It was a prayer, a call, and a blessing, all at once. If she could, the younger woman would have left them alone, since the auburn-haired agent was only in a lightest sleep. But, the tall man was working at the limits of what his body could handle, and he didn't need to be put though any more hoisting and tugging. Rosen rested her hand on his back. "Can you lean on the bed?" Gritting his teeth, he nodded. "I'm sliding over my chair." For a few desperate moments, Mulder forced himself to stand, waiting through what seemed an eternity before he felt a light pressure on the back of his calves. "Thanks." He settled down, reaching for his partner's fingers with his left hand, not bound in place by his partial body cast. Rosen walked around the bed, moving into his view. "If you're interested, Scully broke two ribs on her left side, and you've fractured your right clavicle and scapula." Mulder blinked, tearing his eyes from his partner's face. "The alien vessel?" She shrugged. "It's just a burned-out hulk, no good to them or anyone else. They're trapped here, just like the rest of us. The Gunmen are back in DC analyzing Langly's tape, attempting to enhance the few shots of the interior he caught." Mulder sighed. "It was all for nothing, then. We don't have the Archaeon, the aliens are in the hands of the Consortium, probably dead by now, and the Shadows have regrouped, more than likely under the control of our cigarette-smoking friend." Returning to his side, Rosen grinned. "No, Mulder, you don't understand. It was only the Samanthas the Consortium pulled from the wreckage. Langly buried the camera, but left the lens exposed and pointed at the craft. Three seals were videoed leaving the vessel, slipping back into the ocean." She stepped closer, resting her hand on his shoulder. "He was using the UV sensitive film, so we know the crew survived, they're free." Mulder's eyes glinted. He leaned over his sleeping partner, as if shielding her. "So it's not over yet, is it?" Rosen nodded as she headed for the door. "I think it's just begun. I'll be at what passes for a hotel up here, catching up on my sleep. The number's on your nightstand by the phone, should you need us, and Nic will be here to take over in an hour or so. In the meantime, we have two fine specimens from the RCMP, guarding the building." Smirking, Mulder called out to her, "I'll be sure to pass that information on to the good doctor when she joins us." He sobered. "You did good, Rosen. Having fun yet?" She smiled to acknowledge the compliment, then regarded him somberly. "Graduate school was *never* like this." As the door closed, Scully stirred from her sleep, prodded by her partner's incessant rubbing of his thumb against her hand. Mulder leaned forward, freed now to focus completely on her. "Hey." She smiled, that broad, radiant grin that dimpled her cheeks and set his eyes dancing. "You're awake." She swallowed twice before responding. "Did the good guys win?" He chewed his lip before he replied, "For right now. We have a lot of catching up to do, Scully, after we catch up." He touched his cast. She pushed herself upright. "Tell me, Mulder, I have to know." She reached for the pitcher of water and the plastic glass, as did he, but it was on his right side, so she lifted it first, pouring, drinking, then offering him some. She leaned back, arranging the covers neatly. He gently closed his fingers around her palm. "Then sit still and let me fill you in." --o-0-o-- Great Northern Hotel Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada Saturday, 10:21 am Nichols opened his door, poking his head out, one hand on the doorknob, the other on the frame. "Ros? That you?" He had heard footsteps, then the sound of soft consternation before Rosen walked up to him from the adjacent room. "I was in such a hurry to make it to the hospital, I left my keys on my bed. I can be so stupid sometimes." Smiling, he stepped aside. "Come on. We'll call the clerk to open it for you." Still angry with herself, Rosen shook her head, but he took her by the elbow to guide her in, still protesting her failures angrily. "Nic, you have to go to the hospital! I'll just walk you to the front desk." Refusing to release her until he had guided her over to the single chair in his room, he stood, waiting for her to sit. "Ros, don't beat yourself up over small mistakes like that. You're tired, suffering from exposure and a little bit dehydrated. After you get into your room, take a long, hot bath and get some rest." She crossed her arms. "But, what if I forget something small in the future, and it costs someone their life? Mulder, or Scully, or, you?" She gazed up at him. He sat on the bed across the narrow aisle from her. "Don't obsess about it. You have the makings of a good agent, you just need seasoning." He rose. "Um, if you don't mind my suggesting this..." Rosen frowned. "What?" He stepped to his left, glancing out the window nervously. "What can I do, Nic?" He resumed his seat across from her. "Take some personal time when we get back to DC. Get in touch with Cary. You two need to keep your connections open between you, not let the job split you up like it did Alicia and me." He held up both hands. "Don't worry about Mulder and Scully. Not only will they understand, they'll both be out of commission for field duty for a month, at least. I'll run interference with Skinner if someone has to, but truth be told, his marriage has had its ups and downs too." "But, Skinner doesn't have to know..." He shook his head. "No, he doesn't. No one has to know until you want them to, and if I only say you've gone to spend time with your SO, Cary, who will?" She grinned. "Thanks." She pushed his shoulder. "Come on, there, Dad, I'll walk you out." Nichols rolled his eyes, speaking to the ceiling. "Dad. My partner calls me Dad." He dramatically covered his heart with both hands. "What a blow to the limping ego of a soon-to-be divorced man." Laughing, she waited in the hall while he pointedly checked for his keys, before he closed his door. --o-0-o-- Queens Hospital Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada Saturday, 9:57 pm Scully shivered, then opened her eyes. "Mulder?" The bed across the room was empty, and a quick dip of her head told her the bathroom was as well. Her Muldersensors had kicked in, since the nurses had, for the present, decided to give their room a wide berth. Every hospital stay of her partner's seemed to follow this pattern. The female staff would initially flock to his room, attracted by his dark, floppy hair, equally dramatic lashes, and boyish face. Then, there would be this pointed avoidance, and Scully was fairly sure she knew why. Scully focused her attention on a commotion in the hall. Tugging the white lab coat one of the orderlies had lent her over her hospital gown, she stepped into the brightly-lit corridor. As she had expected, Mulder was frowning at the three night nurses, all of whom were imploring him to return to his bed. But, at her approach, they dispersed rapidly, sending her glances of infinite gratitude. "Scully?" Using the hand rail to pull him along, he worked his way over to her. "You didn't have to get up." He attempted a shrug. "I was just walking off the pain in my shoulder." Mulder waggled his hand at the nurses' station. "They don't understand..." Smiling, she closed her left arm around her waist, reaching with her right hand for his wrist to give it a gentle shake. "And here I thought I was rescuing you from your adoring public." She leaned towards him. "Come back to bed, Dah-link." Grinning, he followed her into their room, passing in front of the old-style steel hospital frames to stand by the window. "How long do you think we can avoid Skinner when we get back?" After a moment, she joined him there, leaning against the stark white wall. "About five seconds. I'm surprised he hasn't called to harass you yet. But, at least, this time we have enough evidence to support whatever we tell him." Mulder nodded. "I know. In fact, we have enough back-up footage to shoot a movie to go along with the report." Glancing down at his cast, he sighed. "We'll just have to take more precautions with the Shadows, next time around." She touched his back, rubbing where the cast had chafed his skin. "And we'll have to factor in the aliens. If they're still out there, they'll probably take a more active role in human events, to try to push our population down, one way or another." Mulder nodded. "We'll be okay, Scully." Reaching towards her, he tucked her under his good arm for a moment, then released her. "Whatever happens, with the people we have working with us, we're closer to the Truth than we've ever been before." Settling lightly against his side, she joined him in quiet contemplation of the snow-covered hills ringing the town. "I'm sure we will." "Ow." Surprised at his exclamation, she looked over as Mulder shifted away from her. "Do you need some painkillers?" Rubbing under the front of his cast, he sent her a tiny, apologetic smile. The gesture elicited a frown from his too-knowing partner. His impishness taking sudden hold of his nature, he leaned close to her ear. "Did I hear you say *if* just now, Doctor?" She stiffened, then raised her chin to shoot him a playful glare. "Mulderrrr." --FINIS-- ARCHAEA -----o------------------------------------------o----- And now what rests but that we spend the time With stately triumphs, mirthful comic shows, Such as befits the pleasure of the court? Sound drums and trumpets! Farewell sour annoy! For here, I hope, begins our lasting joy. The Third Part of King Henry VI -----o------------------------------------------o----- =====o=====================================================o===== Many thanks to all those folks who wrote, asking me when my next story would be coming out. Without your encouragement, I can honestly say this would never have been finished. Special gratitude, as always, to Adina and Michelle, for many, many messages from far away. Thanks also to Matt Weed for his technical advice and his patience, and JohnBear for an excellent formatting suggestion. I was planning on ending this little adventure with a detailed description of all the advances in microbial studies in the past few years. But, it's late, so I won't. Let me just say that this was a lot of fun to write, because I ended up researching the Domain Archaea and the geology of the Cascades, and I learned some new things. The discoveries about microbial life are flying out of the journals thick and fast, so I would await each of my issues of "Science" eagerly. Many of the facts and names you encountered reading this story were published there during the past few months. BTW, as far as I know, the capability to drill to the depths required to reach the ocean-basin volcanics under the Cascades is still science fiction, as is the discovery of life that far down in the crust. But who knows? Perhaps there is a rock-eating Archaeon waiting to be discovered. I will, however, recommend that those of you who are interested check out the on-line version of the journal "Science" at http://www.sciencemag.org/. It's a great way to keep up with the latest in many fields of research, not the least being life in extreme environments, and the reclassification of all life into the new domains. Also, the section titles are species names, not of any new Archaea-bacteria, but of fossils from that great puzzle of paleontology, the Burgess Shale. Steven Jay Gould's 1989 work, "Wonderful Life", is a very accessible introduction to all those odd little invertebrates, with wonderful, detailed line drawings. Anomalocaris canadensis can best be described as a soft-bodied fish with what look like two shrimp extending from its mouth. It was mis-identified several times (as a crustacean without a head, or a jellyfish, or a squashed sheet) before it was reconstructed properly and given its own genus. Branchiocaris pretiosa was a bivalved arthropod (like a sea scallop) with four little legs sticking off its head that it used to shove food in its mouth, but none underneath. It swam on two long rows of fins, like an aquatic millipede. Fact is always stranger than fiction, folks, but here comes the doozy: Hallucigenia sparsa. It's like nothing on earth, so different (a worm with two rows of spines along one side, and two rows of soft appendages along the other, with no obvious mouth or eyes), that it's been flipped over and over, using alternately the spines or the soft legs for locomotion. I've seen the fossils when they came to the Smithsonian in a special exhibition and I couldn't tell you what it was either. Pikaia gracilens was the first chordate (had a nerve bundle running down its back), and was the first life "like us" on the planet. Finally, I close with a quote from what turned out to be the last of Carl Sagan's books: "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark". In the following, he lays out what "The X- Files " could have been, but isn't, and what I tried to make my expanded X-Files section in this story into: a true marriage of skepticism and wonder (pp. 305-306). "No one can be entirely open or completely skeptical. We must all draw the line somewhere...Responsible, thoroughgoing, rigorous skepticism requires a hard- nosed habit of thought that takes practice and training to master. Credulity - I think a better word here is "openness" or "wonder" - does not come easily either. If we really are to be open to counterintuitive ideas on physics or social organization or anything else, we must grasp those ideas. It means nothing to be open to those propositions we don't understand. "Both skepticism and wonder are skills that need honing and practice. Their harmonious marriage within the mind of every schoolchild ought to be a principal goal of public education. I'd love to see such a domestic felicity portrayed in the media, television especially: a community of people working the mix - full of wonder, generously open to every notion, dismissing nothing except for good reason, but at the same time, and as second nature, demanding stringent standards of evidence - and those standards applied with at least as much rigor to what they hold dear as to what they are tempted to reject with impunity." Write if you feel inspired or are infuriated. I answer all mail eventually, and I learn as much from suggestions for improvement >from my readers as I hope they do from me. o========================================o Originally released to ATXC beginning: 4/1/97 Corrected and revised for POV shifts with some content changes: 6/23-24/97 Second revision: 3/26/98-3/29/98 o========================================o End - ARCHAEA - Part 29 of 29 o========================================o