Labyrinth - Part One
by Raj Sisodia

E-mail: seek2reveal333@aol.com 


April 20th 2012
The Pentagon 
United States Department of Defence
Arlington County, Virginia
11:36 a.m.

The boy's hands were bruised and bleeding. Little drops of
blood were falling on the highly-polished floor as he staggered
and stumbled along the E-Ring hallway. Images of uniformed
men and women peered down at him, as well as pictures of
boats and planes and American flags. The boy's head was
pounding. His teeth seemed to vibrate from the awful buzzing
in his mind. Everything was horrible now, and he couldn't go
back. He couldn't go back and make it like it was before. He
watched as his sneakers stepped on the little drops of his own
blood, creating red streaks behind him. 

And suddenly a tall man stepped through a door about ten feet
away. He was wearing a dark green uniform with stripes on his
shoulders, and held a hat tucked under his arm. The boy
recognised the uniform from movies and TV. The man was
someone important in the military. At first the man didn't see
him, and the boy staggered forward, attempting to reach out to
him. 

Finally the man turned and literally gasped. "Jesus Christ, son,
how *the hell* did you get in here...?" But then the man
glanced down at the boy's bleeding hands and quickly looked
up into the boys eyes again. "*My God*..." 

The boy stumbled, swayed and collapsed onto the polished
floor. 

Almost immediately the military man was above him, quickly
cradling him. The man's eyes looked concerned but also fierce
and disbelieving. "How did you *get in here?*" he asked, as
his eyes darted left and right down the curving hallway. 

But the boy had barely any strength left. Summoning what little
he had, he clenched his teeth and said hoarsely, "It's coming.
The darkness is *coming...*" 

The man cradling him looked afraid now. And then he was
fumbling in a pocket for a cell phone, and then he was
hurriedly speaking into it. 

"This is General Douglas Roper in E-Ring...security clearance
 X96731: Eating-Tree'. We have a Code Black security
breach...initiate immediate lockdown." The man glanced down
at the boy pressed awkwardly against him. "No, ma'am, this is
*not a drill...*" 

The man let the cell phone drop onto the floor beside him and
used both arms to cradle the boy again. 

"Son, you need to tell me your name and how you got inside
this facility. And what son of a bitch did this to your hands?" 

The boy tried to gather his remaining strength, and croaked,
"*William*...my name is William." He couldn't hold back the
emotion any longer and suddenly he was sobbing. The tears
were hot and awful, and suddenly everything he knew - his
school, his friends and family - seemed a million miles away.
He reached out and snatched the man's arm, staring pleadingly
into his eyes. "What am I? What did they *do to me*? Why is
this happening? Where's my mom? *I want my mom...*" 



* 

April 25th 2012 
J Edgar Hoover building 
Washington D.C. 
2: 04 p.m. 

Fox Mulder couldn't escape the surreal, unsettling feeling.
Here they both were in FBI headquarters, dressed in suits again.
As he glanced at Dana Scully beside him, clad in a black skirt,
heels and suit-jacket - he could almost imagine that the last
twelve years had never happened; that they were still federal
employees. 

"You ok?" he asked. 

Scully was peering at her hands folded in her lap. She frowned
without looking over at him. "I'm ok. It's just...this is all very
mysterious. It's got me on edge." 

Mulder said quietly, "I don't think saying no was an option." 

"I know that." 

They had received the call early that morning directly from
Nathan Harris; the FBI's Deputy Director, informing them that
the matter was extremely urgent and that their plane tickets
were already waiting for them at the airport. It had been a
shock, and they were left to muse on why they were suddenly
being ordered back to Washington. Mulder felt just as tense as
Scully seemed to be. He didn't like walking blindly into a
situation without any knowledge of it. 

Mulder glanced around the waiting area, and tugged on the
collar of his shirt. "This suit feels weird on me now, Scully. We
should've just worn our real clothes." 

Scully looked at him and smiled. She reached over and
adjusted his tie. "For a long time these *were* our real clothes.
Besides, you look handsome. Like a real FBI agent." 

Mulder loosened his tie a little. "I feel like a faker." 

A moment later a smiling blonde woman came through the
nearest door and addressed the two of them. "The Deputy
Director will see you now." 

Mulder nodded a thank-you at her, glanced at Scully and
muttered, "Time to bite the bullet." 

As they stepped into the lavish office, Mulder saw that Deputy
Director Harris wasn't alone. Sitting in front of his desk was a
woman in her mid-forties with short boyish hair, and a man in
his late thirties with dark, intense eyes. Mulder felt his hackles
rise slightly and shot a glance at Scully. They sat in the empty
chairs across from the two strangers, and Mulder peered
expectantly at the Deputy Director. 

He could obviously tell they were uncomfortable and smiled to
disarm them. "Mr. Mulder, Dr. Scully; I want to thank you for
taking the time to see me on such short notice. I apologise for
not giving you any information over the phone." 

To Mulder's surprise, Scully frowned and said, "We assumed
this is about the terrorist incident at Christmas. Has the FBI
finally decided to reverse its stance and scapegoat us for what
happened?" 

Mulder suppressed a smile. 

It was the Deputy Director's turn to frown. "No, far from it, Dr.
Scully. The FBI owes you a debt of gratitude as far as I'm
concerned. But this matter *is* linked to the events that took
place here at Christmas." 

He gestured at the forty-something woman with short hair.
"This is Danielle Archer with the Central Intelligence Agency -
she has some information she needs to share with you." 

The woman smiled, but it seemed empty. She opened a black
leather folder on her lap. "Mr. Mulder, Dr. Scully...we have a
critical situation that the Deputy Director and I both agree you
could be a massive help with. But before I can discuss anything
with either of you, you'll need to sign these." 

She leaned across and handed the folder to Mulder. Without
looking at the documents inside, he asked, "What are they?" 

Miss Archer smiled. "National Security waivers. You won't be
able to discuss this information with any-" 

Mulder raised a hand to cut her off. "We know the drill." He
looked at Scully, raising his eyebrows, and then peered at the
silent man with the dark eyes who was sitting beside Miss
Archer. 

"And who are you?" asked Mulder. "It's just...I have an
aversion to silent, mysterious guys who hang out in FBI offices
without introducing themselves." 

Mulder expected to see a flash of irritation or annoyance in the
man's eyes, but there was none. 

"Michael Oren. I'm with the NSA." 

Mulder sighed and looked over at the Deputy Director. "And
what if we say no?" 

Deputy Director Harris shrugged. "Then you can leave, and the
FBI will pay for your flights home. But I really hope you
consider doing this. You'd be doing a great service for your
country." 

Mulder was about to speak when Scully cut in. "With all due
respect, Deputy Director, Mulder and I spent most of our adult
lives serving our country. We've gone above and beyond the
call of duty on countless occasions. And usually we had to fight
our own Bureau every step of the way. Our patriotism is not in
question. But it turned us into fugitives...it left Mulder on trial
for his life. So, forgive me when I say that the FBI never
exactly had our backs in times of crisis." 

Mulder cocked his head at Scully, peering at Danielle Archer
and Michael Oren. "Yeah, what she said." 

The Deputy Director frowned and nodded. "All I can say is that
I'm not my predecessor. I have nothing but respect for your
work. I'm very familiar with your case-files. I believe that you
were two of the finest agents this Bureau has ever produced.
All I can do is sincerely apologise for your past mistreatment." 

Mulder turned and peered into Scully's eyes. She nodded
gently. 

They both signed the waivers in the leather folder and handed it
back to Miss Archer. 

"So?" asked Mulder, "What's going on? The suspense is
killing me." 

Danielle Archer clasped her hands between her legs and leaned
forward slightly. 

"What I'm about to tell you is classified SCI Top Secret. Four
weeks ago the CIA came into possession of some intel
connected to what happened here on Christmas Day. The intel
was so disturbing that President Obama ordered a secret
meeting with his National Security Advisor and the Secretary
of Defence." 

Scully glanced at Mulder, and then looked directly at Miss
Archer. "And what was the intel?" 

"Irrefutable evidence of a rouge alliance hidden within the US
military and the intelligence agencies, codenamed Labyrinth. It
appears this secret faction was responsible for the terrorist
attempt in this very building that the two of you somehow
averted." 

"Hang on a minute," said Mulder. "The Scythe of St John were
behind that attack; a right-wing Christian militia." 

Miss Archer smiled coldly. "Mr. Mulder, you yourself admitted
in your official statement that you believed the Scythe had
extensive links to the intelligence community - that it had in
fact been infiltrated by what you referred to as  supersoldiers'.
Well, it seems the Scythe was entirely controlled by this rouge
group calling itself Labyrinth." 

Scully cut in. "What about Special Agent James Clarke? The
man was working for the Scythe. He tried to *kill* me." 

"Agent Clarke committed suicide in federal custody six weeks
ago." 

Angered, Mulder leaned forward and said, "Look, Miss Archer,
this is all fascinating, but what the hell has this got to do with
us? The FBI has asked for our help twice in the last four
months, and both times it nearly got us killed. You must really
be screwed if you need to call on the help of two civilians. So
spit it out. I could be watching *Buffy* on DVD right now." 

Scully smiled, but Mulder could see that he'd irritated the CIA
woman. It pleased him. 

Archer glanced at Michael Oren sitting beside her. The
dark-eyed NSA agent nodded gently. 

Archer fixed Mulder with a stare. 

"It appears that this rogue alliance believes it's interacting with
an extraterrestrial intelligence. It plans to cripple the
government and the entire infrastructure of this country.
Domestic terror-attacks are just the beginning. We're not
talking about redneck conspiracy theorists here, Mr. Mulder.
We're talking about a clandestine, extremely powerful group
that has infiltrated possibly every intelligence agency in the
United States. This is extremely Sensitive Compartmentalized
Information I'm sharing with both of you. The President and
the Defence Secretary both believe that this situation is
potentially the greatest threat facing this country since the Cold
War. Do you understand?" 

Mulder tried to let the information sink in, glancing wide-eyed
at Scully. 

Archer continued, "Michael Oren and I are part of an NSA-CIA
joint taskforce, created four weeks ago in the Oval Office
during this secret meeting. This taskforce is named Vigil, and
our mandate is to do everything we can to gather intel on
Labyrinth and their plans for the next several months. Vigil
believes that America is facing a string of terror attacks on the
scale of 9/11, masterminded by men and women who swore an
oath to protect this country. I hope you understand the scope
and the implications of what you've heard here today." 

Eventually Mulder sighed and said, "Ok, if this intel is *real,*
then why should we trust either of you? How do we know this
Vigil taskforce hasn't already been infiltrated by Labyrinth?" 

Deputy Director Harris frowned at the implication, but Danielle
Archer just shrugged. "I guess you're just gonna have to take it
on faith that we're not the bad guys, Mr. Mulder." 

Mulder stole a glance at NSA agent Michael Oren. The man's
face was unreadable. 

"So, I'm guessing you want me and Scully to lend our services
to Vigil, because of our experience on the X Files unit?" 

"No we want you to *officially join* Vigil, because of your
experience on the X Files unit. Labyrinth seems to truly believe
it's in contact with an alien intelligence, and we have intel
linking them directly to some of the cases you investigated
while the X Files unit was still operational. Something referred
to as Purity Control." 

Mulder looked over at Scully. He could see that she recalled
the term. He could see that it worried her. 

Archer went on, "Because of these connections, you and Dr.
Scully were obvious choices to recruit into this taskforce. I
know this is asking a lot of you both, but you'll be paid an
extremely generous salary and would have the considerable
resources of Vigil at your disposal if you agree to this." 

Mulder took a long, deep breath. He leaned back in the chair
and peered up at the office ceiling. 

He didn't know how much of this story was true, or what their
other agendas might be, but he realized enough to know that
there was a very real threat here. His eyes left the ceiling and
focused on the redhead sitting beside him. He understood the
look on her face. A door had opened back when Imogen Lanelli
wrought havoc in Richmond four months ago. The door had
remained open since then...and now they were being presented
with an opportunity to actually step *through* that door, and to
potentially discover what lay on the other side. Mulder
suddenly felt like everything since Lanelli had been leading
them to this moment. 

Scully leaned across, gripped his hand and nodded. She seemed
resolute and aware. 

"Fine," said Scully, addressing Danielle Archer. "Fidelity,
Bravery, Integrity - we still believe in the Truth. Sign us up." 

Archer smiled and took a manila folder from the Deputy
Director's desk. She handed it to Mulder. 

"We don't have a lot of time here, so we...we took the liberty
of already processing your security clearances and logging you
onto our servers." 

Mulder chuckled humourlessly and opened the folder, as Scully
peered over. Inside were two silver photo-ID cards with
six-digit identification numbers and laser-etched barcodes. 

"Those cards will allow you access to Vigil's temporary
headquarters here in D.C. They'll also allow you to access our
servers." 

Mulder peered at the little photos of himself and Scully on the
IDs. 

"Presumptuous much?" he muttered. 

Archer leaned forward with narrowed eyes. "This threat is very
real, Mr. Mulder. And we're trying to stop any further terrorist
attacks on American soil, by people within our own
intelligence community. So you'll have to forgive us for the
speed of our endeavours." 

Mulder stared back at her, and nodded silently. 

"In that folder you'll also find your briefing packets. Our plane
leaves in one hour. Welcome to Vigil." 







* 

American Eagle Airlines Flight 314 
En-route to Cheyenne, Wyoming. 
4: 46 p.m. 

They were at thirty thousand feet, as flight attendants rolled
food carts up and down the aisle. Mulder and Scully were
seated together but Danielle Archer was seated several rows
ahead. 

"Did you actually see the NSA guy board the plane?" Mulder
asked quietly. 

"No," Scully replied. She placed the manila folder on her lap
for a moment and stroked the armrest. She stretched her legs,
making full use of the ample room. She chuckled and added,
"At least they sprung for First-Class. No expense spared." After
a few moments she said, "So, what's the initial verdict?" 

"She's hiding something, obviously." 

"She's hiding a lot of things, Mulder." 

"You trust her?" 

Scully smiled. "About as far as I can throw her." 

Mulder peered through the window at the wing of the plane and
the vast expanse of blue sky and clouds beyond it. 

Scully had been going through their briefing packets, looking at
documents and photos of six dead soldiers. The images were
disturbing, to say the least. Scully sighed and picked up the
folder again, scanning through the pages once more. 

"I would've said something like this was impossible, Mulder, if
not for everything we witnessed on the X Files. These
soldiers...their skin is untouched, the entire dermis is healthy,
but just underneath the skin the bodies display third-degree
burns to most of the musculature. Like..." 

"Like they were burned from the inside out," Mulder finished
quietly. 

"Yeah. Have you ever read about spontaneous human
combustion cases like that?" 

Mulder shook his head. 

"But what do the deaths of these soldiers have to do with this
rouge Intelligence group? I don't think Archer is telling us the
whole story, Mulder. I mean, she tried to make us feel
important back in the Deputy Director's office, but I think this
is strictly need-to-know. And we don't need to know." 

"Dana," he said quietly, "I'm thinking that Archer's story
doesn't make a lot of sense. This Labyrinth faction...conspiracies, 
terror attacks, alien involvement - how is that really any different 
to what we were saying for almost nine years with the FBI? Now 
we're supposed to believe that the federal government is taking 
such claims seriously all of a sudden?" 

Quietly, Scully asked, "You think this story about Labyrinth is
a complete fabrication?" 

"No, I'm sure parts of it are true at least. But we're being
played, Scully. I'm not sure how yet...but I know we're being
used." 

Scully nodded. "I was thinking the same thing, Mulder. We're
in synch." 

Mulder smiled at her. "We still got it, Scully." 

He offered her his fist and arched an eyebrow. 

A little smile bloomed on Scully's lips. "I am *not* bumping
fists with you, Mulder." 

"C'mon. It's good luck." 

She chuckled and touched her fist to his. 

"Now we're cooking," muttered Mulder with a grin. 

Scully smiled again. Mulder was being sweet and playful with
her, to fortify her spirits, and she was grateful. Mulder knew
that she hadn't fully recovered from the strange, disturbing
events that had occurred in their home nearly a month ago. She
remembered the hulking, hooded figure invading their lounge.
She remembered its massive hand around her throat,
threatening to choke the life from her. They had spent the next
seven days at a motel before Scully could even think about
stepping back into that house. The bruises around her throat
were still faintly visible, but she had done her best with makeup
to conceal them. The entity had very nearly crushed her
windpipe. Mulder had been concerned about her mental state in
the weeks that followed, but Scully knew she was tougher than
even he realized. 

When the Deputy Director of the FBI had called early that
morning, Scully had been actually grateful. Mulder wasn't sure
if it was a good idea for her to leap into the fray so soon, but
truth be told she was extremely glad. Her work at Our Lady of
Sorrows was no longer as distracting or rewarding as it used to
be. She wanted answers, and she knew only the X Files could
offer them. Truth be told, she wanted and needed to fight. 

* 

Kelverton Military Hospital 
Cheyenne, Wyoming 
6:24 p.m. 

Mulder walked quickly through the corridor, beside Scully,
with Danielle Archer striding ahead of them. Doctors and
nurses and soldiers cast curious glances their way. Mulder
didn't like the feeling in his gut. Something was telling him
that this situation was all wrong, but he couldn't put his finger
on why he was so nervous. He tried to assess everything that
had occurred in the last few hours. They had been recruited into
something extremely sensitive, but had done so almost blindly.
He realized that they had done this more on faith than anything
else - faith that this might help them to stop whatever was
coming. Mulder stole a glance at Scully's gold cross as they
walked the corridor. 

He hoped faith was enough. 

Danielle Archer suddenly came to a halt, which made Mulder
and Scully stop too. Ahead of them a young soldier in
camouflage fatigues was approaching, an assault-rifle slung
over his shoulder. 

"Miss Danielle Archer?" 

She looked the soldier up and down disdainfully. "Yes?" 

"There's been a change of plans." 

Archer shook her head as if to brush him off. "I don't think so.
Everything's been pre-arranged. We're here to view the bodies
of the six soldiers found yesterday morning. The burn victims.
Check with General Roper." 

The young soldier frowned with apparent embarrassment.
"Ma'am, it was General Roper who told me to inform you of
the change in plans." 

Archer glanced at Mulder and Scully, and then peered again at
the soldier. "Listen, Private. If our investigation is hampered in
any way, you and the General will have to answer to the Oval
Office. Do I make myself clear?" 

"Ma'am, you can discuss that matter with the General when
you see him, but right now you'll have to come with me." 

Archer scowled and turned to Mulder and Scully. "I'll be with
you again as soon as possible. Hopefully then we can do what
we came here for." 

She stalked away with the soldier until they turned a corner and
disappeared from view. 

Mulder turned to Scully and said quietly, "So much for
security-clearance. I don't like this. This is giving me a bad
feeling, Scully." 

"Just like old times," Scully said dryly, and then gestured over
Mulder's shoulder. 

He turned. Another soldier was approaching them, a young
woman this time. She was small and slender, and didn't look
like she was capable of any kind of combat. But Mulder knew
appearances were usually deceiving. 

"Fox Mulder and Dana Scully?" the female soldier asked
brusquely. 

Mulder offered her a humourless grin and said, "The one and
onlys." 

She didn't seem in the least bit amused. "Come with me." 

Scully took a step forward, irritated by the soldier's tone. "Not
until we know where we're going and why." 

The soldier said simply, "If you don't co-operate with me right
now I'm going to arrest both of you and place you in federal
custody." 

"*Excuse me?*" Scully sneered at her. 

The female soldier un-slung the rifle from her shoulder and
casually slammed the butt of the weapon into Mulder's
stomach. 

Mulder grunted and immediately collapsed onto the polished
floor of the corridor. He clutched his belly and squeezed his
eyes shut against the pain and shock. 

The fury in Scully was suddenly incandescent and she lunged
forward. "*You psychotic bitch! Have you lost your mind!*" 

But the soldier expertly whipped the rifle round in a
split-second - and Scully froze in her tracks as she found its
barrel inches from her face. 

"Are you both ready to cooperate?" the soldier asked calmly,
her finger on the trigger. 

Scully's blood was boiling and she stared daggers at the
woman. After a few moments she asked, "Are you ok,
Mulder?" 

At her feet on the polished floor, Mulder could only groan in
response. 

The female soldier ordered Scully to drag Mulder to his feet,
and escorted them both at gunpoint down a darkened stairwell
and into a basement suite of rooms. The room they were
marched into didn't look like it belonged in a hospital. Its walls
looked like grey cement, with only a table and chairs in its
centre and a large mirror running the length of the right wall. It
was obviously an interrogation room. 

Scully glanced fearfully at Mulder, but he was still grimacing
from the pain of the soldier's assault. 

"So was this *whole thing* a set up?" she asked quietly.
"What're you gonna do when you're done with us?" 

But the female soldier only responded with, "Sit at the table,
both of you." 

Scully swallowed her rage and dragged Mulder with her.
Before she sat at the table she peered scathingly at the two-way
mirror. Mulder slumped into the chair and hunched over the
table, cradling his stomach. 

"That really, really hurt," he muttered. 

Scully peered wildly at the female soldier, who only cast a
cursory glance, went back into the basement corridor and
closed the door behind her. 

Scully and Mulder were alone in the grey room now, but she
knew they were being watched. This was bad. This was really
bad. She dragged her chair over to Mulder's and put her arm
around him. 

"Let me see." 

With anger and pain in his voice he murmured, "Just leave it,
baby..." 

"Fox, will you just let your partner the doctor take a look?" 

Mulder chuckled and said through gritted teeth, "Sexiest doctor
ever." 

"Don't you forget it," she replied, forcing a smile. 

She opened his suit-jacket, threw his tie over his shoulder and
unbuttoned his shirt. There was a horrible purple bruise on his
abdomen. She touched it gently, and then touched around it.
Mulder winced. 

"It doesn't look like there's any internal bleeding. That bitch
knew just how hard to hit you but you'll be ok." 

Finally, Mulder looked directly at her, breathing deeply. "The
pain's starting to fade a little. Dana, I can't help but think that
we've been set up." 

Scully tried to hold back her fear. "You think Danielle Archer's
in on this?" 

He winced and closed his eyes. "I have no idea, but someone's
trying to intimidate us." 

The door opened and Scully looked over as the female soldier
reappeared, standing to attention just beside the door. She was
followed by a tall, thin man in a white jumpsuit; the kind of
outfit that forensics teams sometimes wore. But Scully could
sense this man wasn't a forensics tech. There was something
oddly frightening about the sallow-faced man. 

He walked over to the table and sat opposite them, removing a
laptop from under his arm and placing it on the tabletop. Scully
noticed black spirals tattooed on the backs of his hands. For
some reason the sight chilled her to the core. 

When he spoke his voice was softer and sweeter than Scully
had been expecting. 

"I apologise for the brutality, but the two of you have been
caught up in a National Security issue...and extreme force was
authorised." 

Scully hissed at him, "And who the hell are you, you creepy
son of a bitch?" 

The tall, thin man in the white jumpsuit didn't seem offended. 

"I work for the Department of Defence, on behalf of their
Special Access programs." 

Scully practically growled at him, "We're here *investigating*
a National Security issue. So I think you and your pimps at
DoD have got their wires crossed." 

The thin man smiled vaguely. "I know about the Vigil
taskforce. An NSA-CIA joint operation. But I'm afraid our
authority supersedes even Vigil's." 

Scully leaned across the table and exclaimed, "This taskforce
was created on the authority of the President of the United
States!" 

"I'm well aware of that," said the thin man. "But the clearance
that I and my employers possess is higher than even the
Commander In Chief's. So I suggest you sit quietly and listen
to what I have to say." 

Scully was too furious to even speak, but Mulder finally turned,
grimacing, and said, "Hey, dipshit, I've got a question for you.
Are you a telepath?" 

The thin man's face was impassive. 

Mulder continued brazenly, "See, in my career I've come
across some exceptionally gifted psychics. And it occurred to
me that people like that...the truly gifted...might somehow end
up working for military intelligence. Those tattoos on your
hands; they're some kind of focusing tool, right? Or maybe an
intimidation technique? Probably a little of both, huh?" 

Mulder smiled obtusely at the thin man. Scully was shocked
that Mulder had the courage and presence of mind to engage
this man so directly. She could see in Mulder's eyes that he was
still in pain, but he wasn't about to let this guy intimidate them.
She felt a sudden thrill of pride. 

"That's a very vivid imagination you've got there, Fox. Maybe
you should become a Hollywood screenwriter." 

"Only if you kiss my ass first," said Mulder. 

For the first time the thin man offered a genuine smile. "You're
not like most men, are you, Fox?" 

Mulder shrugged. "I get that a lot." 

The thin man chuckled, seeming genuinely amused by Mulder.
He opened the laptop in front of him, turned it round and slid it
across the table towards them. 

A segment of footage blinked to life on the screen of the
laptop. Mulder and Scully could only peer horrified and
disbelieving at what they saw. 

It was the two of them, making love. 

On the screen Mulder was kissing Scully's throat, her breasts,
slowly kissing his way down her stomach, and then further.
Scully watched herself grab the bedsheets in her fist and arch
her back slightly. 

Scully grimaced and slammed shut the laptop. 

"*Enough,*" she hissed. 

The violation of their privacy was making her tremble with
rage and disgust. 

Through clenched teeth, Mulder growled, "DoD was in our
*house? Filming* us?" 

The thin man smiled, and Scully had to fight the urge to
scramble across the table and try to claw his eyes out. Mulder
grabbed her wrist, as though sensing the urge. 

"No," said the thin man. "What you just witnessed is
something that my associates call an SVE - a Synaptic Visual
Extrapolation. A computer-generated image culled from your
memories, and then extrapolated into a third-person
perspective." 

Despite her trembling, Scully managed, "That kind of
technology doesn't exist..." 

"Doesn't it?" 

"That was some pretty convincing CGI," muttered Mulder,
peering darkly at the man. And then, "Just how exactly did you
gain access to our *memories...?*" 

The thin man in the white jumpsuit smiled silently. 

"I want to kill you right now," said Mulder. 

"I know," the thin man replied. 

There was silence in the room for a while. 

"Are you going to tell us what you want?" asked Mulder. 

"I don't want anything. I'm just following orders. You're both
free to go." 

"Wait," Scully snarled. "*That's it?* We're just free to go
now? Then why the hell did you drag us in here in the first
place?" 

The thin man smiled. "Like I said - orders. But I doubt this is
the last we'll be seeing of each other." 

Scully swore under her breath, and then, "Let's get the hell out
of here, Mulder. Before I throw up." 

Mulder pushed back his chair and climbed to his feet, peering
darkly at the thin man in the white jumpsuit. As they headed
towards the door, Scully focused on the female soldier who had
assaulted Mulder earlier. 

"Bitch," Scully said quietly. 

But the female soldier lunged forward, grabbed Scully by the
edge of her suit-jacket, pulled her close and then suddenly
shoved her into Mulder. Scully nearly toppled but Mulder
caught her. Before either of them could respond to the soldier's
aggression, her rifle was pointed at them. 

"I'm just doing my job," she said coldly. "Now, I'll escort you,
but I suggest you leave this facility calmly and quietly." 

Mulder scowled at her but quickly ushered Scully through the
door. 

They were standing in the windy parking lot of the Kelverton
Military Hospital, peering disbelievingly at one another. The
chill Wyoming air ruffled their hair and tugged at their jackets. 

"That was crazy," said Scully, glancing back at the building.
"Are you ok, Mulder?" 

Mulder tilted his face skyward, sighed and closed his eyes.
"I've had worse." 

Scully closed the gap between them and took his hand. "You're
not going to believe this..." 

He opened his eyes and peered down at her. "What?" 

Softly, Scully said, "The female soldier...I think she slipped me
something." 

Mulder's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" 

"When she grabbed me as we left that room - she slipped
something into my jacket pocket." 

Mulder actually chuckled. "Ok, we need to get to the car. Right
now." 

They began walking towards the rental car that Danielle Archer
had acquired when they landed. 

Scully unlocked the doors with the set of keys Archer had
given them, and they climbed into the backseat together. The
car afforded them some privacy. Scully glanced apprehensively
at Mulder, reached into the pocket of her suit-jacket and
removed a metallic USB stick. Mulder peered at the flash-drive
in Scully's palm. 

He took a long breath. "Ok, I feel a little better about her
slamming a rifle in my gut." 

"She's afraid," Scully realized. "She's been compromised, but
she's trying to help us. This is getting really, really crazy." 

Mulder nodded. "We need to find out what the hell is on that
flash-drive." 

Scully grabbed her brown leather bag from the foot-well of the
back seat. "I've got my Macbook with me..." 

"No. Not yet. Not here." Mulder glanced through the window
at the military hospital. "If we really have an ally, we can't risk
putting her in danger." 

Scully took a breath and nodded. "Archer doesn't need to
know." 

"Hell no," Mulder agreed, and then, "Speak of the She-Devil." 

Scully followed Mulder's gaze and saw Danielle Archer
stalking angrily towards the car. The CIA agent saw them in the
backseat and nodded at them. Scully slipped the flash-drive
back into her pocket. Archer threw open the door and slumped
gracelessly into the driver seat, immediately turning and
peering at them. 

"Are you both ok?" The concern in her voice seemed genuine. 

"We're fine," said Mulder. "But we were just intimidated by a
creepy son of a bitch who said he worked for DoD." 

Archer nodded, apparently furious. "This whole thing is
bullshit. They're saying that the bodies we were supposed to
view were *accidentally destroyed.* How the hell do you
accidentally destroy six dead bodies? And it seems like
someone's trying very hard to have our access revoked,
someone with heavy connections. It's bullshit." 

"What do you mean *revoked?*" asked Scully. 

Archer took a long breath, glancing back at the hospital.
"Look," she said quietly, "I'm starting to think that someone
inside the Agency is trying very hard to limit Vigil's access. I
just got off the phone with my superiors in Langley, and all I'm
getting from them is idle posturing." The CIA agent frowned
and Scully saw tears glistening in her eyes. 

"I shouldn't really be discussing this with you, but I hope this is
just some bureaucratic matter - because if it's not...then it
means someone in my division is already working with
Labyrinth." 

"Someone you work for doesn't want you getting to the truth,"
said Mulder. "I remember how that feels. It sucks, doesn't it?" 

"I'm not sure what to do," Archer said tightly. 

"For a start," said Scully, "You need to tell us what's really
going on." 

Danielle Archer closed her eyes for a few moments and sighed.
Mulder had the sudden intuition that they had finally gotten
through to her. "Ok, ok...*screw it.* We all want the same
thing, right?" 

Mulder and Scully both nodded silently. 

"How much do you know about drones?" she asked them. 

"UAVs?" said Mulder. Archer nodded. "Unmanned Aerial
Vehicles. Remotely-controlled or autonomous aircraft used for
surveillance, or seek-and-destroy missions. They can pack a
hell of a lot of firepower. They're considered the cutting-edge
in military weapons technology. They do reports about them on
CNN these days." 

"Well...the Agency believes that one of these drones was
accidentally brought down by someone inside the Labyrinth
faction that someone was able to hack into the UAV's
guidance-system and tried to take control of it, but somehow
caused it to crash. Thank God for small mercies." 

Scully glanced at Mulder and then peered at Archer. "Why
would this faction want control of a drone?" 

Archer grimaced. "Dr. Scully, an armed UAV is basically a
flying weapons-platform, a hunter-killer packing a huge
amount of ordinance. If they'd managed to successfully gain
remote-access to its guidance-system they could have flown it
anywhere in the United States. They could have flown it over
Washington D.C. Some of these drones can carry enough
ordinance to destroy the equivalent of five city blocks." 

"Jesus," Scully muttered, horrified. 

"Listen," Archer said quietly, "Hacking a UAVs
guidance-system should be virtually impossible, but..." 

"But this isn't an ordinary drone," Mulder finished for her. "Is
it?" 

"No. It's some kind of black-budget prototype. An X22 Reaper.
Apparently it's light years ahead of anything the US military
officially possesses. It crashed somewhere here in Wyoming.
And the six-man retrieval team were somehow killed when
they got close to it - the photos of the burn-victims in your
briefing packets. Now nobody knows the location of the drone
crash-site. It might still be active. Its weapons-system might
still be online. And that's got everyone terrified. That's it. You
know everything I do now." 

"Wait," said Mulder. "Where were the bodies of the retrieval
team found? The crash-site has to be pretty close, right? 

Archer sighed and shook her head. "The bodies were found
sitting in their trucks at the same location they left from ten
hours earlier. I'm guessing it took them a long time to die. I
guess they managed to get back, almost. Nobody knows what
the hell is going on." 

Scully glanced at Mulder and then back at Danielle Archer.
"Was this drone prototype carrying nuclear material?" 

"I don't have access to that information," Archer said plainly.
"But it's possible. Maybe that's why my superiors are being so
cagey. If this drone was carrying some kind of small tactical
nuke..." 

"*Christ,*" Scully said softly with distain. 

"I don't know how else to explain the burns on those soldiers.
It has to be some kind of bizarre radiation exposure, doesn't
it?" 

Scully nodded at her, but Mulder was peering out of the car
window. Finally he turned and looked at Scully. His eyes were
ablaze with possibilities. 

"What are you thinking, Mulder?" 

"I'm thinking that this prototype is way spookier than the
military want us to recognise. I'm thinking that this Reaper has
technology that was cannibalized or reverse-engineered from a
UFO. That's why all the secrecy. That's why the soldiers in
those photos had those weird burns; charred internal organs but
healthy surface tissue. It's from an alien energy-source. And the
military hopes that if anyone gets enough data together they'll
think the prototype was carrying a nuclear payload." 

He glanced at Archer, expecting to see her rolling her eyes at
his words, but she peered at him stone-faced. If anything she
looked afraid at what he'd said. 

"I'm sorry," said Mulder, "This is usually the part where people
tell me I'm crazy." 

Archer glanced at Scully and then back at him. "This Labyrinth
faction seems to believe it's communicating with an
extraterrestrial presence. These are military intelligence
veterans were talking about; men and women who believe they
possess a secret so powerful that they're willing to turn traitor
against the government they swore to uphold. I'm not willing to
dismiss anything out of hand." 

Mulder couldn't help but smile vaguely. 

"What's so funny?" asked Archer, seeming slightly offended. 

"Nothing," said Mulder. "It's just strangely refreshing." 

"So what's our next move?" asked Scully. 

"Well, they destroyed the bodies that I wanted you to autopsy,
Dr. Scully. So you tell me. You guys are the experts in all this
*Outer Limits* stuff, right? Do we go looking for the
crash-site? I'm pretty sure that Labyrinth will be searching for
it too, as well as USAF. That could put our actual lives in
danger. But that's a moot point...because we don't even have a
place to start looking." 

Mulder glanced at Scully. He knew what she was thinking, and
he was thinking the same. It might be possible that Danielle
Archer was an ally, not an enemy. Maybe trusting her in this
instance would get them further than if they tried to do this on
their own. Mulder nodded at his partner. 

She reached into her pocket and removed the silver flash-drive.
She held it up for Archer to see. "Maybe we *do* have a place
to start looking," Scully said quietly. 

* 

Restway Inn 
Cheyenne, Wyoming 
8: 34 p.m. 

The motel room was clean and well-furnished. Danielle Archer
had paid for the room next door, but now she stood in their
room with them. Mulder waited in anticipation as Scully sat at
the desk and powered up her Macbook. She inserted the
flash-drive and tapped at the keyboard. 

She glanced over her shoulder at him. "It's a single video file." 

"Play it, said Archer, before Mulder had a chance to speak.
Scully moved the cursor and tapped the mouse-pad. On the
screen a piece of footage began playing. A young woman in
army fatigues peering fearfully into a webcam. It was the
female soldier who had slipped Scully the flash-drive at the
hospital. 

"My name...my name is Sergeant Alice Brigman. I'm...we
intercepted something... something we weren't supposed to
know about. Two radar operators are already dead..." 

The terror in the young woman's voice was palpable. Mulder
shifted uneasily on his feet as he peered at her image on the
screen. She was afraid for her life. 

"They want to kill me too. My unit's been compromised. I
don't I can't trust the men around me...Jesus Christ, I feel like
I'm *losing my mind...*" 

"This poor girl," Scully muttered. 

"I don't have a lot of time. I know the location of the crash-site.
I'm a *patriot,* do you understand?" Sergeant Alice Brigman
peered wide-eyed into the webcam and began to cry. "*I'm a
patriot.* I swore an oath to protect my country. I can't...I won't
let them do this. They're going to kill me, Agent Mulder..." 

Mulder inhaled sharply at the mention of his name, at the
mention of his former federal title. Scully glanced back at him,
concern in her eyes. 

"I have the coordinates. The Air Force is looking for it. And so
are some of the men in my unit. You can't let them find it..."
Sergeant Brigman held up a piece of paper to the camera. A
series of numbers were written on it. 

"Those are GPS coordinates," Archer said quietly. She pulled a
pen and notebook from the inside pocket of her suit-jacket, and
wrote the numbers down. 

On the Macbook the female soldier continued. "These
men...these men want to destroy the United States. I just...I just
can't believe any of this is really *happening*..." She closed
her eyes for a few moments and took a deep breath. When she
opened her eyes again she raised her hand and saluted the
webcam. "Agent Mulder, show these assholes what patriotism
is really all about. Good luck and Godspeed." 

The video file ended. 

Scully turned away from the laptop and peered at Mulder, then
at Danielle Archer. 

"I'm thinking we're working against the clock here," said
Scully. "It might be too late if we wait until morning to search
for this thing." 

Mulder nodded, and then Archer sighed and said, "Ok...we
wash up, take showers or whatever, change into some casual
clothes...and then we go looking for the crash-site. Agreed?" 

Mulder knew they were about to wade into extremely
dangerous territory, and he was aware that Scully knew this
too, but he and Scully both nodded in agreement. 

* 

Albin, Wyoming 
8:48 p.m. 

Alice Brigman stepped out of the shower, reached for the towel
and drew it around her. The hot water hadn't done much to
remove the chill that seemed to have settled in her bones. She
realized she was still trembling. She walked over to the
bathroom mirror and wiped the steam from its surface. Her
eyes looked haunted. She looked like she'd aged five years in
the last thirty-six hours. Being in the comfort and solace of her
own home did nothing to soothe the fear that was sitting in her
gut like a clenched fist. 

Was slipping the flash-drive to the redhead a mistake? Was she
a fool to think she could even stand against men like this? But
the thought of fellow soldiers that she had trusted with her life
now revealed to be traitors and sociopaths - it set her teeth on
edge and flooded her heart with rage. She would rather break
every protocol than be privy to such a conspiracy and do
nothing about it. 

She clenched her hands into fists as she peered at her own
reflection. 

"I am Sergeant Alice Brigman, United States Army...I am
Sergeant Alice Brigman, United States Army, I am Sergeant
Alice Brigman-" 

The gunman stepped through the open bathroom door and fired
the suppressed pistol at the back of her head. She didn't even
have time to realize he was there. The bullet blew open the
front of her skull and shattered the bathroom mirror. 

Alice collapsed instantly. 

For a moment the gunman peered at the star-shaped pattern of
dark blood on the bathroom wall, before slipping the weapon
back into his jacket and retrieving his encrypted cell phone. 

He dialled a number and waited for his contact to answer. 

Softly, the gunman said, "It's Michael. The woman's been
taken care of. Yes. Well, that will have to wait, won't it? I can't
be everywhere at once. Ok." 

NSA agent Michael Oren ended the call and slipped the phone
back into his pocket. Now it was just a matter of waiting for
Danielle Archer and the two ex-FBI agents to make a move. He
had faith in their abilities, and he could track them. Despite
these things in his favour, an odd ripple of uncertainty went
through him. He knew there were other players in the game. It
wasn't just Archer, Mulder and Scully he had to worry about;
there were other powerful forces at work. It was a frightening
thought. 

* 

Restway Inn 
Cheyenne, Wyoming 
8:56 p.m. 

While Scully showered, Mulder dressed into his jeans, boots
and a black sweater. He knew it could get particularly cold at
night out in the short-grass prairies of Wyoming. Danielle
Archer was next door, also preparing for their journey. Mulder
seriously hoped she was in possession of a sidearm. He had no
idea what they would find out there, if anything, but he wanted
to be prepared. If members of this Labyrinth faction were also
looking for the drone prototype, then it was a very bad idea to
enter that situation unarmed. 

Mulder glanced around the motel room and realized he and
Scully hadn't eaten or drank anything since the flight. Packing
some soda and potato chips for the drive was probably a good
idea. He fished his wallet from his discarded suit and left the
room. 

Outside, the night air was already getting colder. He spotted a
vending machine over in the far corner of the motel complex
and quickly marched towards it. 

He fed a ten dollar bill into the machine and ordered three cans
of Perk Cola, four bags of potato chips and three Snickers bars.
He collected his change and then gathered up the food into the
crook of his left arm. He grabbed a Snickers bar, tore the
wrapper open with his teeth and bit off half. 

As Mulder chewed the candy, turning to walk back, he caught a
glimpse of a dark figure slipping into their room and closing
the door quietly behind them. A little spasm of dread flared in
Mulder's gut. The figure had been a broad-shouldered male. It
wasn't Danielle Archer. 

Scully was in there... 

Mulder dropped what he was carrying, all but one soda can,
and began sprinting towards the room. An instinct told him to
slow down, to enter the room stealthily, but sheer panic for
Scully had already claimed him. 

He threw open the door and saw the dark figure in the centre of
the room, turning quickly to face him - raising the gun in his
hand. Mulder hurled the soda can at the figure's head. It
connected with a fizzing hiss as cola suddenly spurted
everywhere. The figure grunted, staggered, raising a hand to his
face. Mulder threw himself at the assailant, slamming into him,
and the two of them went tumbling over the corner of the bed.
The gunman hit the floor at an awkward angle with Mulder on
top of him. Mulder had just enough leverage to ram his elbow
down into the gunman's throat. He let out an awful gagging
sound and shuddered in pain. Mulder wrenched the silenced
weapon from his hand and shoved the barrel of the suppressor
to the side of his head. 

"*Amateur,*" Mulder growled in his ear. 

The bathroom door burst open and Scully came rushing
through, with a towel around her, her shoulders glistening with
water from the shower. Her eyes flew wide when she saw
Mulder on the floor, with a gun to the head of the man beneath
him. In the next instant Danielle Archer came through the main
doorway, a raised sidearm clenched in her hands. She glanced
at Scully standing near the bathroom, and quickly stalked round
to see Mulder on the floor with the now helpless gunman. 

"Get him up," Archer said coldly, "Before I kill him myself." 





The gunman sat immobilised on the chair next to the desk, his
wrists bound with Mulder's necktie. He was dark-haired and
innocuous-looking, and young. Mulder realized he was in his
early twenties at best. Danielle Archer moved impatiently
around the room, peering at the young man tied to the chair. 

"Answer me," Mulder said for the third time. The gunman
finally lifted his eyes and peered at Mulder with a blank
expression. 

"I asked how old you are." 

"Nineteen," the gunman replied softly. 

Mulder grimaced and shook his head. "You're just a kid. Who
sent you here to do this?" 

The kid's eyes seemed to have no light in them. "Who do you
think?" 

Mulder kneeled in front of him and said, "Labyrinth." 

"Bingo," said the kid. "Give this man a prize." 

The bathroom door opened and Scully stepped into the room
again, fully dressed now in boots, jeans and a grey sweater. She
cast silent glances at Mulder and Archer and the young man in
the chair. She walked over and stood behind Mulder, peering
down at their wannabe-executioner. 

Mulder grabbed the young man's face. "Look at me. Someone
gives you a weapon threaded for a silencer...and you think
you're an assassin now? Is that it?" 

"I'm a trained soldier," the gunman said, eyes narrowing.
"United States Army. I'm one of the good guys..." 

"Really?" said Mulder with a sneer. "Well, you just got your
ass handed to you by a guy in his fifties. How's that for a
reality-check, Private?" 

Mulder caught a flash of sadness in the kid's eyes as he
muttered, "Pretty sobering, I guess." For a few moments he was
silent, and then added, "You may as well kill me, before they
do. I failed my objective. I'll be an embarrassment to them
now; a poor tactical manoeuvre on their part. All they care
about is the mission. They'll erase my entire life." 

Mulder peered into his dark, empty eyes. "And what's the
mission?" 

The young gunman chuckled like he found the question
genuinely amusing. "To retrieve Gabriel." 

"That's the codename for this X22 Reaper prototype?" 

"Yeah." 

"Tell me everything you know about it." 

The young gunman sighed, defeated. "It doesn't matter now
anyway. The prototype isn't just an armed drone. It's an angel
of death; a multifaceted Artificial Intelligence capable of
parallel-processing - a learning, adaptive network. There are
rumours...that it was developed in Utah...using alien
technology..." 

For the first time the gunman smiled gently at Mulder. 

"I'm not afraid to die," he muttered. "Eight months from now
everything you know is going to burn. Society, culture, all your
hopes and dreams...it's all going to *burn.*" 

"You're talking about colonisation," Scully said coldly. 

The young soldier raised his eyes to meet hers, and nodded.
"But the word *colonisation* doesn't really sell the urgency,
the unavoidability of what's coming. We're talking about the
Apocalypse. The End of Days." 

Danielle Archer hurried over and slapped the kid hard across
the face. "Tell me your employer's plans if they find this
prototype and regain control of its guidance-system. Tell me
everything." 

When the young soldier recovered from the sting of the slap, he
began to chuckle. His chuckling became outright laughter. 

"You stupid bitches don't get it, do you? Gabriel was designed
to be one of seven Archangel drones...designed to protect
military infrastructure when the invasion begins. Gabriel is the
first of its kind, but they're building six others as we speak.
But...when Labyrinth hacked the guidance-system it
accidentally disabled its programming matrix..." 

Mulder glanced worriedly at Scully, and then peered back at
the young gunman. "What does that mean?" 

The gunman was still laughing. "It means that Gabriel has no
programming, no USAF coding, no mission parameters. The
onboard A.I. cannot be shut down now, and that makes Gabriel
a fully autonomous, sentient being..." 

"*Jesus,*" Mulder whispered, immediately recognizing the
implications of what the young soldier was telling them. 

"Wait, wait," hissed Danielle Archer. "Are you trying to tell us
that this drone is *alive?*" 

The gunman grinned and nodded. "Labyrinth tried to acquire
Gabriel nearly thirty-six hours ago, so they could use it to bomb
specific targets in Washington D.C. But the drone crashed
somewhere out there, and now everyone's looking for it." 

He leaned forward and peered into Mulder's eyes. "Do you
understand what's happening now, Agent Mulder? Gabriel has
a power-source taken from a UFO. It has capabilities that no
other hunter-killer possesses. It doesn't need to refuel. It has
access to military satellites, and it can think for itself. Labyrinth
still intends to find it and tame it. You're in the middle of a
war, Agent Mulder - a secret military-intelligence war being
waged on American soil." 

Mulder sneered at the young gunman. "And you want to
destroy the United States as part of this war? A US
soldier...you want to decimate your own country?" 

"Yes I do." 

"Why?" 

"Because when Hell finally comes, I want to know that I fought
on the side of the truth." 

"*The truth?*" Mulder murmured with disgust. He climbed to
his feet and moved away from the young soldier. 

Danielle Archer scowled at their captive and un-holstered her
sidearm. Scully frowned and Mulder caught the expression. But
before either of them could protest Archer slammed the butt of
her gun into the side the soldier's head. He slumped
immediately in the chair, unconscious, as a ribbon of blood
began to trickle down his face. 

"I thought you were going to shoot him," Scully muttered,
glancing worriedly at Mulder. 

"So did I," Archer murmured in response. 

"If they sent someone to actually kill us," Mulder said
pointedly, "Then that means the clock's ticking. We need to get
moving. *Now.*" 



* 

Great Plains, Wyoming 
10:54 p.m. 

Stars glittered in the deep blackness of the night sky, hanging
over a seemingly endless scrubland. Headlights arced into the
onrushing darkness ahead of the moving rental car. Scully had
forgotten just how dark, empty and unsettling deserts could be
at night. She had criss-crossed through many of them with
Mulder during their time on the X Files. Right now it felt like
they were driving blindly into an abyss. They had gone off-road
nearly two hours ago. The car bumped and jostled over the
uneven ground as Danielle Archer forged ahead. 

"Are you *sure* we're on the right heading?" Scully asked. 

She watched Danielle Archer peer at the little digital monitor
on the dashboard. "GPS doesn't lie, Dr. Scully." 

"What if Labyrinth already has these coordinates?" asked
Mulder. "If Sergeant Brigman was able to acquire them, who's
to say that Labyrinth haven't done the same? Brigman said on
the tape that two radar operators were murdered. Labyrinth
might've already found the site. They could be there right
now." 

"If that's true," said Archer, "then we're all screwed." 

Scully took a deep breath and closed her eyes. If they did find
the wreckage of this drone prototype, what then? Even if
Archer called it in to her superiors at Langley, they had no
assurance that it wouldn't be intercepted by infiltrators, by
members of this Labyrinth faction. Essentially, none of them
had any idea what would happen if the coordinates turned out
to be genuine. 

Scully turned to Mulder and gripped his hand. "Do you think
we'll find it?" 

Mulder squeezed back and nodded. She felt comforted by his
certainty. If anyone could find a needle in a haystack it was Fox
Mulder. They had Brigman's coordinates, but Scully firmly
believed that if Mulder had driven out into the plains with
nothing but his instincts and intuition, he would have a higher
chance of finding the crash-site than anyone else she knew.
Mulder was spooky like that. 

A little smile bloomed on her lips, but instantly faded when she
glanced through the passenger window - and caught sight of
approaching lights in the distance. A vehicle was heading their
way from the right. 

"I think we're in trouble," she said sharply. 

Mulder caught sight of it too, and then Archer. 

"Oh no, no, *no,*" the CIA agent murmured fearfully. 

"Military?" Mulder asked quickly. "Air Force? These
Labyrinth guys?" 

"I have no idea," Archer replied, slamming her foot to the gas
pedal. The car surged forward with renewed speed. "I don't
think we want to find out, do you?" 

Whatever vehicle was heading their way, it had a better engine
than theirs. It was quickly gaining. 

"If it *is* Labyrinth," Scully said, her heart beginning to
pound, "I wouldn't be surprised if they execute us right here in
the middle of the desert." 

Mulder tore open the rucksack at his feet and retrieved the
silenced Glock 22 they had taken from the young gunman back
at the motel. Scully moved in concert with Mulder's intention
and began winding down the window. A chill breeze
immediately filled the car. 

As the oncoming vehicle got close enough, Scully realized it
was an Army Jeep heading their way. The Jeep began sliding
sideways, and Scully could just make out a tall dark-haired
male soldier at the wheel, and a female soldier with red hair in
the passenger seat. An instant later she recognised them. 

"*That's us,*" she gasped. "Brace yourself!" 

The Jeep slid round and slammed sideways into their car,
shaking the entire vehicle and forcing it left. Danielle Archer
almost lost control of the wheel. 

With both vehicles now racing side by side, kissing metal
against metal, Mulder had a clear view of the driver - himself.
He immediately fired three shots over the top of the empty
passenger seat, shattering the passenger window, penetrating
the other vehicle and turning the head of his lookalike into a
red mist. 

Archer took full use of the moment and rammed the front edge
of the Army Jeep, sending it lurching away into a pin-wheeling
motion that churned up the scrubland. The Jeep spun to an
abrupt stop about forty feet away. Danielle Archer eased off the
gas and slowed the rental car to an eventual halt. 

"Why the hell are we stopping!" cried Scully. 

Archer spun round in the driver seat and barked at Mulder,
"Who the hell did you just kill? What if those were real Army
personnel? *Oh God*..." 

"They were shapeshifters," Mulder said breathlessly, adrenaline
still coursing through him. 

He and Scully turned in the backseat and peered through the
rear window. As though on cue the female soldier got out of
the Jeep, and began stalking towards the rental car. She was
clad in boots and fatigues, her red hair tied up in a bun, and she
was wearing Scully's face. 

Danielle Archer recognised the approaching figure and her eyes
went wide. She gasped in utter disbelief and said, "*Jesus
Christ...what the hell is this?* How is that *possible*...?" 

Scully cried, "Run her down! Run her down or we're all dead!" 

Danielle Archer's training seemed to reassert itself and she
threw the car into reverse with a roar of the engine. The car
shot backwards, illuminating the Scully lookalike in the red
glow of the car's break-lights, before slamming into her. The
shapeshifter was instantly sucked out of view beneath the rear
window. But there was no sickening crunch of car tyres
crushing her into the scrubland. 

"She's not " Mulder began, before the shapeshifter lunged up
into view again, clinging to the back of the reversing car, and
rammed a fist through the back window. Glass shattered and
Scully screamed. The shapeshifter's hair-bun had come loose in
the impact. She looked like a flame-haired Medusa, her tresses
whipping wildly in the wind. The grim imposter reached
through and snatched a fistful the real Scully's hair, causing her
to scream. Mulder lunged across the backseat, shoved the
barrel of the silenced Glock into the shapeshifter's mouth and
pulled the trigger. 

The Scully lookalike was launched backwards off the reversing
car in the same instant that the back of her head exploded. She
hit the ground and a split-second later was trampled by the
car's spinning wheels. The vehicle bounced as bones were
crushed, and a long red streak of blood and mangled flesh
seemed to unfurl from beneath the front of the car. 

Archer hit the brakes, slamming Mulder and Scully against the
leather of the backseat. 

Everyone in the car was panting breathlessly. Mulder tried to
force down the adrenalized panic, and reached for Scully.
"Jesus, baby...*are you ok?*" 

Scully nodded, wild-eyed. "She only had me for a second..."
Scully pressed a hand to her chest in disbelief. 

"*That was insane,*" murmured Danielle Archer, hunched
over the steering wheel and peering at the ruined body of the
lookalike illuminated in the car's headlights. 

Scully turned in the seat and peered through the windshield at
the corpse. 

"She's not dead," she told Archer. 

"What the hell are you talking about?" the CIA agent
exclaimed, terror in her voice. "*We just ran her over*..." 

"She's not dead," Mulder assured her. 

"This isn't possible...this *cannot be happening.* She looked
*just like you*..." 

Scully glanced across at the Army Jeep idling only ten feet
away, at the ruined face of the Mulder lookalike still slumped
in the driver seat. Without a word of warning, Scully snatched
the silenced Glock from Mulder's hand, opened the passenger
door and marched towards the Jeep. She walked around the
vehicle, shooting out each of the tyres. When she hurried back
to the car, climbed in and slammed the door, Mulder gave her
tentative smile. 

"Let's get the hell out of here," Scully said darkly. 

The CIA agent nodded wildly at her words and slammed her
foot on the accelerator once more. The rental car surged
forward into the night. 

* 

10: 06 p.m. 

Almost half an hour had passed since they left the lookalikes
broken and bleeding in the scrubland, and they hadn't stopped
driving. The chill breeze from the shattered windows whipped
around inside the car with them. Mulder knew full well that the
shapeshifters were still alive, but hopefully Scully had disabled
their ability to come after them once they recovered. 

Danielle Archer had managed to quell her panic and disbelief,
and now peered silently ahead into the darkness as she drove. 

"Are we close?" Mulder asked carefully. 

The CIA agent glanced at the GPS monitor and immediately
slowed the car to a stop. 

"We're here," she said quietly, her voice trembling. "These are
the coordinates." 

Mulder shot Scully a worried look and grabbed the halogen
torch from his rucksack. He opened the passenger door and
stepped out into the Wyoming night. Scully quickly followed,
and then Archer reluctantly did the same. 

Scully shook her head and peered up at the glimmering stars. 

"How can they be shapeshifters?" Mulder heard Archer ask
softly. 

He turned to face her. "They're extraterrestrial biological
entities. We call them bounty hunters; beings that can alter
their entire DNA sequence through will alone." 

"*Aliens?*" she croaked, sounding like a little girl. 

Mulder nodded, glanced at Scully and then peered out across
the plains. Roughly a hundred feet away Mulder spotted a large
rocky outcrop making a silhouette against part of the horizon. 

"It's got to be around here somewhere, Scully," he muttered. 

"Let's find it," Scully said with grim determination in her tone. 

Mulder began jogging in the direction of the outcrop. Scully
followed beside him as Danielle Archer trailed behind. After
only thirty feet or so Mulder came to a stop, switched on the
halogen torch-beam and pointed it to his right. 

A long, wide scar in the scrubland was visible, trailing towards
the outcrop ahead of them, like something very heavy had
churned up the earth. 

"It's here," Mulder said breathlessly, and broke into another jog
towards the outcrop. After another thirty feet or so he came to
another stop and gasped, "Look at *that,* Scully..." 

She followed the torch-beam to where something large lay
sitting in the scrub. 

"*Oh my God,*" she murmured. 

Something was glitching in and out of visibility like an optical
illusion. The object lay there, seeming to randomly phase in
and out of reality. It was a sheared wing from the drone,
composed of large hexagonal panels of strange black metal. It
stuttered like a fragmenting digital image. The ground beneath
it occasionally appeared, drifting in and out of focus. 

"Optical *invisibility,*" Mulder said in awe. "It's still cloaked.
*Damn*...no wonder everybody wants to get their hands on
this..." 

Danielle Archer peered dumbfounded beside Scully, her mouth
literally agape at what she was seeing. Quietly she said,
"Everything in your case-notes during your time with the X
Files unit...it's all *true,* isn't it?" 

Mulder nodded. "The rest of the drone has to be nearby." 

He broke into another run, with Scully beside him, until they
reached the rocky outcrop. Slowing down, they moved
carefully round the large buttress of stone. 

Fifty feet ahead of them, lying in the scrub, was the rest of the
UAV. The drone was glitching in and out of visibility just like
its sheared left wing; a distorting, flickering image. 

Even with the bizarre optical effect Mulder could see that the
main body of the aircraft was broken in two places. It was
shaped like the conventional drones he had seen in photographs
online, only larger and darker in color, at least sixty feet long; a
streamlined craft with thin wings and a tail-fin composed
entirely of black metallic hexagons. 

Mulder moved towards the broken body of the prototype,
fascinated by the way it seemed to flicker in and out of the
visible spectrum. Scully and Archer came up behind him,
fascinated too. None of them could tear their eyes away. 

"No way is this conventional military technology, Scully," he
said wide-eyed. 

Unthinkingly, Mulder reached out and touched its strange
surface. Scully didn't have time to protest. 

"It feels warm and electrical," he said, turning to Scully. "Like
static from an old television..." 

"Do you think this thing is still armed?" asked Archer. 

"Armed?" Mulder repeated absently. 

In the next instant a line of small neon-red lights came to life
along the length of the fractured drone. A weird electrical hum
began to gather from deep within the craft. The optical glitches
quickly faded into permanent visibility. Mulder suddenly
couldn't pull his hand away from the drone's metallic surface. 

"*Oh shit,*" he murmured as his stomach clenched in horror.
He tried to tear his palm away from the craft, to no avail. Scully
immediately grabbed his arm and began tugging madly. 

"What the hell did you do?" he heard Archer say fearfully. The
electrical hum from the prototype began to get deeper and
deeper. 

Mulder let out a guttural scream as a sudden torrent of images
and thoughts were somehow forced into his mind like a knife
of buzzing, vibrating information. 

A few second later the drone seemed to release him from the
vision and Mulder stumbled backwards, tripped and fell onto
the hardened ground. Scully rushed to kneel beside him as he
peered up at her, trembling with wild eyes. 

"*It was William,*" he exclaimed breathlessly at her. "It was
*our son,* Dana...that's who crashed the drone. They can
communicate somehow...because of his physiology...because of
the energy-source *inside* this thing...*Oh my God*..." 

Scully stared down at him, afraid, as the low humming from
the drone began to vibrate in the pit of her stomach. She
glanced up at Danielle Archer and saw sheer dread etched on
the woman' face. 

The ground began to shudder, and Scully glanced back at the
broken body of the prototype - as two sections suddenly
slammed together with the sound of shrieking metal, and
melded instantly. The fractured tail-section began to drag itself
impossibly across the scrubland towards the main body,
suddenly slamming into the metallic wound and merging with
it. Pebbles and bits of vegetation and rivulets of dirt began to
bounce and skitter towards the ominously humming drone. 

"*Jesus Christ,*" Archer exclaimed. "It's *rebuilding itself*..." 

Scully snapped her gaze back to Mulder. "We need to go,
Fox...right now!" 

She hauled Mulder to his feet. For a moment he peered
wide-eyed at the drone, and then cried, "Gabriel, we're not a
threat! Don't *do this*!" 

Mulder suddenly shifted his gaze to Scully. His eyes were
fierce. "It's gonna kill us, Dana..." 

Danielle Archer broke into a run, racing flat-out towards their
rental car. Scully grabbed Mulder's arm and the two of them
began running for their lives. Mulder's lungs burned and
heaved as he ran, but he kept pace with Scully just in front of
him. Another sound filled the air, over the growing hum of the
drone - the sound of something large and heavy being dragged
quickly towards them. 

"*Down!*" Archer screamed ahead of them, and threw herself
to the ground as the sheared wing of the drone came into view,
flipping up off the scrubland and tumbling end over end
through the air. Scully dropped to the ground, dragging Mulder
down with her, as the tip of the thirty-foot metallic wing arced
over their heads. Scully could feel the displacement of air as it
tumbled past. A moment later it reconnected with the drone's
main body in another sickening scream of metal. 

"Up, Mulder! *Get up*!" 

Mulder suddenly seemed lucid, and was on his feet almost
immediately, dragging Scully back onto her feet too. 

They were both running again, as fast as possible towards the
car. Ahead of them, Danielle Archer reached the vehicle,
clambered inside and started the engine. For a moment Scully
thought the woman was going to abandon them, until she threw
open the back door and cried, "*Come on!*" 

Scully realized the low humming from the drone had stopped,
and she risked a glance back as she ran. The drone prototype
was rising vertically like a silent harrier jet from behind the
large rocky outcrop, the row of little red lights along its length
glowing menacingly. 

Mulder was the first to clamber into the backseat and Scully
followed an instant later. Her heart was hammering inside her
chest as sweat dripped from her. She and Mulder heaved for
breath, but Danielle Archer didn't even give them time to close
the door. 

She slammed the car into a ferocious reverse with the gas pedal
to the floor. The vehicle raced backwards, bouncing and
jostling as it picked up speed. 

Scully and Mulder peered through the windshield as the
Gabriel prototype turned in the air, sixty or seventy feet above
them, and banked to the right - coming into a direct line of
sight with their reversing car. It looked like a huge metallic bird
of prey hanging in the night sky. 

"*Oh my God,*" Archer muttered. 

Mulder lunged across the seat, grabbed Scully's seatbelt, pulled
it around her and clipped it into place. He managed to snap his
own seatbelt into the locking mechanism when he caught
Scully peering at him, mouthing the words  I love you'. 

But before Mulder could respond, a white-hot star lanced from
beneath the hovering black drone and arced down towards
them on a trail of smoke. A moment later the missile hit the
earth only fifty feet away from the front of the reversing car -
and the entire horizon erupted like a volcano, with a deafening
roar. The force lifted the car, and for a few moments the
vehicle was airborne, flipping end over end. It came crashing
down on its front left corner and landed on its roof, amidst a
rain of fire and mud and shattered stone. 

**** 

(To Be Continued...)