The Lambs: Part 2 (17/21) by Lamia (AKA so kiss me goodbye) Rating: PG-13 (violence, strong language) Category: S Spoilers: Seasons 1-9, Fight the Future Keywords: William; Colonization Summary: Liam van de Kamp's life changes the day two FBI agents kidnap him and his parents. Author's Note: The Lambs is a three-part story (with prologue). Chapter 27 April 20, 2012 New Mexico Vibration was his first warning. Tiny shudders traveled up his pencil and Ellie had to slap her hands on her school bag to stop it quivering off the table in a red heap. The revs of an engine echoed through the cavernous space of the hangar. Liam had been chewing his pencil for the perfect sentence to end his essay when he heard it. A sound as foreign to him now as a blaring TV or a telephone ring. Ellie perked up. "Is that -" The hangar windows were too high to see out. Liam helped Ellie scramble onto a drum. "Liam, get down from -" Through a grimy glass pane Liam could see the source of the noise. "Mom, it's an RV." A rusted, yellow camper had pulled up on the runway. School had moved upstairs when the weather grew warmer. With more room they could be louder, and on the days when the wind wasn't scouring the desert with dust or lifting hair off scalps, they lived outdoors. "Get down, Liam. We don't know who it -" "It's Mulder!" He leapt off the drum. Liam's dash outside ended in disappointment. The roller doors on the opposite hangar shut with a bang. Marie van de Kamp steered him back. "You can go look for Mulder when we finish." Dragging his feet, Liam slunk back to his trestle table. There was no way his essay on frogs would find that missing word now. Jerry sat on a rock offering no inspiration but looking "zen" - as Allan Hirsh called it. Jerry looked zen most days. It appeared to be his favorite pose. Ellie said it - and his gold-flecked green skin - made him look like a lion. Sal still went out on patrol, but she and Jerry lived in the classroom. Sal slept in a basket beneath Jerry's tank. Liam's mom said they kept everyone happy. She was more right than she knew. Ellie plundered her bag for coloring pencils. "What do you think Mulder's got stashed in that camper?" "I dunno - but I bet Major Drummond has a fit when he learns about it." Ellie was doodling a cartoon frog on her pad. She gave it a gold crown, then looked up. "He's doing it again." "Doing what?" "I swear Jerry thinks he's king of the jungle - being waited on hand and foot. He's got it good for a frog." Liam attacked a misspelled word on his paper with his eraser. "I suppose. It's a bit boring for him though. As much as he likes Sal -" He got one of Ellie's condescending sniffs. "You're just making that up." He wasn't, but couldn't be bothered arguing. "I think he gets lonely. He's probably looking forward to hibernating." "You think he will?" "It's possible. It should get cold enough up here." "Why don't you keep him downstairs like last winter?" Liam underlined the title of his essay with a vicious swipe. "Hibernating is a natural part of his life cycle. I never meant to keep him. I wanted to study him, then I was going to let him go." Ellie put down her pencil. "So why didn't you?" "I can't release him here. I need to take him home." The arrival of the camper had ruined everyone's concentration. Eventually Liam's mother gave in. Marie rolled her eyes when she told them to put their books away and prepare for their afternoon run. They took off faster than a starter gun. Unless there was a curfew (or it was too windy), they always finished their day with a jog around the camp buildings. They avoided going further afield where the vegetation was thicker and stood more chance of concealing snakes. Liam stopped for nothing. He pushed himself until his legs lost all their stretch. He never felt more alive than when he was running. He tore up the track and flew across the line scratched in the dirt. Dr. Scully, up in time for her afternoon drink with his mother, offered him a water bottle. "I have some news for you." Liam grinned. "Mulder's back. We saw him." His friend had been gone more than ten days. Dr. Scully's eyes were bright and dancing. If she was just pretending to be better, she was doing an excellent job. Liam had been committed to his promise and made a point of checking on her every day (earning an amused smile from Mrs. Scully whenever he neared them). But while Dr. Scully appeared full of life, he couldn't bring himself to relax. A shadow was hiding in her; there was no telling when it would loom again. Nor was there any reasonable explanation for its disappearance. He'd heard Mrs. Scully murmur about miracles; he didn't discount them, but this one made him uneasy. Liam shook the worry of Dr. Scully's health from his mind. "Did he get the nanobot thing?" "Not without some adventure ..." -o0o- "I don't know what your secret is, Liam, but I haven't seen Scully looking so well in a long time. Think you can do anything with this?" Liam appraised the white sling cradling Mulder's arm with mock solemnity. He had been too excited to eat. The beans on his plate were a soggy cold mess. "I'm awfully sorry, Mr. Mulder, but I think we'll have to amputate." Mulder shuddered. "That's what got me in trouble in the first place. I swear he was trying to take my arm off. If it hadn't been for Skinner and an 18-storey drop -" He paused, casting a thoughtful glance at Liam's mother. "He might as well hear it from you," she said. "If he waits to catch the camp gossip, who knows what shape the truth will be in?" Mulder held off until the long mess hall table was full. It would save him having to repeat himself. Word of his unusual arrival had gotten out. Everyone wanted to hear the story first hand. "We managed to find my" - Mulder paused -"informant and we kept surveillance on her. When we felt she was safe to contact, we arranged a meeting. That went without a hitch. She passed on a coded message which led us to an unoccupied apartment in a high rise with a safe containing a device she said was a nanobot extractor. "I don't think she set us up, but our precautions weren't good enough. They must have been watching the apartment - Skinner and I got there first, only to encounter a soldier on our way out." Charlie gaped at Mulder. He wasn't the only one. "How did you escape?" "With luck," Mulder said. "We backtracked but he jumped us on a balcony. Skinner managed to lever him over the rail. He tried to take my arm with him, but I guess he didn't want it as much as I did. That bought us enough time to get out of there." Liam gulped down some of his mushy vegetables. "What about the camper?" Mulder leaned in and winked. "All the secrets of the universe are in that thing, Liam - and an endless supply of these." He whisked a packet of sunflower seeds out of his pocket. "That's all?" "Disappointed?" Mulder made a face and shrugged. "Picked it up in Alabama. A friend thought we might appreciate some of the IT hardware in it. We made some arrangements so that it wouldn't be tracked here. We just need to keep it undercover." "Did any more soldiers come after you?" Aaron asked. Mulder gave him a grin. "What - one wasn't enough for you?" Liam pondered the item Mulder had retrieved. He hadn't shown them the device, so they could only imagine what it looked like. "What exactly does the nanobot extractor extract nanobots from?" "Not what. Who." Mulder's smile was pure satisfaction. "It's not just an extractor - it's a kind of all-in-one device. Once we work out how to use it, we'll be able to operate it remotely, and inject and extract nanobots as needed." They wanted to fire questions at him, but Mulder didn't stick around. Dr. Scully hadn't been at dinner so Liam assumed he left to find her. A stern look from his mother told Liam *he* wouldn't be leaving until his plate was clean. The scientists were keen to carry on the discussion about the nanobot device. "I bet the bots can be reprogrammed - otherwise what use would it be to us?" Toby leaned so far over the table his glasses steamed up from the tea in front of him. Shu's gaze went to the ceiling. It didn't yield any answers to Liam, but Shu seemed to see a lot in it. "How about attacking a supersoldier inside? Or maybe, it can give superpower strength?" Alan arriving late set his tray down to join them. "Could two people injected with nanobots communicate telepathically?" "Better yet - what if bots could be used to control atoms in inorganic matter? Or for psychokinesis - blowing things up with your mind." Toby blew his cheeks out and mimed an explosion with his hands. Ideas flew around the group, each more ridiculous than the last. Studying the extractor gave the young scientists new focus. With the vaccine close to production in pharmaceutical plants around the world, the sense of urgency in the underground laboratories had dropped off. The scientists' shop talk broadened to include conversations about engineering and apps and coding. A week before his birthday, Liam's mother received her own dose of the vaccine. As with Mrs. Scully and his father, Liam kept an eye on his mother. And like them, she had no reaction. The vaccine appeared safe - but was it effective? No one could say definitively. What else could they do but wait? -o0o- May 23, 2012 New Mexico When the lights went out after dinner, Liam knew what to expect. He ducked his head as everyone burst into the Happy Birthday song. His mother put a tiny cupcake topped with chocolate frosting and a candle in front of him as his friends looked on. She kissed his cheek. "Happy Birthday, sweetheart." As a whole, the camp didn't make much of individual celebrations, but Mrs. Scully produced a pair of bright woolen socks for him and Mrs. Fawbert, who had returned from a supply run, dropped by with a special light bulb for Jerry's tank. Even Gibson showed up. He stayed long enough to wish Liam a happy eleventh birthday, and he nodded at Mulder and Dr. Scully who had given way to Liam's classmates. Liam might have slipped off his stool if he hadn't been wedged between Ellie and Charlie. The room emptied as they chatted. For once his mother didn't hurry him off to finish his homework. School was nearly over for the year anyway. When he returned a cup to the kitchen, he passed Mr. Skinner hunched over his plate at a table. Dr. Scully stood at his shoulder. "Told you that meatloaf looked green," Mulder said from Mr. Skinner's other side. Dr. Scully patted the bald man. "How long have you been feeling this way?" Sweat beaded on Mr. Skinner's head and he rubbed his right rib cage. "Pretty much as soon as they flicked that thing on. They said they got them all. Do you think it's gone wrong?" "I hate saying this but we just have to wait and see." On his way back from the kitchen Liam put a glass of water in front of Mr. Skinner. "Suzuki said they couldn't detect any - thank you, Liam." Mr. Skinner drained the cup before turning to Dr. Scully. "Blurgh. Did you see it? A test tube of gray sludge." Keeping an ear on their conversation, Liam squeezed back into his seat. "Sounds appealing," Dr. Scully replied. "As bad as you feel, you're healthier now than when it was in you." To finish the evening his parents suggested they take Sal for a walk. It was nice to spend time with them, but Liam sensed there was more to this than simple exercise. They wandered along the runway, taking time to throw a stick for Sal into the cracked and flowering desert. Evening aromas scented the air - sweet and salty all at once. Liam took a stab at guessing what they wanted to discuss. "Now that all you grownups have had the vaccine, will they start giving it to us next?" His mother had some surprising news. "You kids might not get it now." Liam tripped on a long gnarly root. "What? Why?" "A couple of reasons," Harry said. "They still don't know what its long term effects could be." "Also, there's no evidence of any supersoldier children," Marie said. "No one knows of any supersoldiers younger than their mid-twenties. Some of the scientists believe the optimal time to change is after certain developments in the brain - which don't happen until you're close enough to thirty." Liam tried to work out what that could mean for him. He hadn't had any supersoldier dreams for weeks - well, not real ones. He had woken up shivering a few times, but that could have been for any reason. "Do they know this or are they guessing? What does Dr. Scully say?" Of course he had no way of knowing for sure, but the vaccine hadn't harmed him. Surely it would be better to take the chance that it *might* work than do nothing? Marie pulled her cardigan tight despite the evening warmth. "Liam, it's difficult for Dr. Scully. The last thing she wants is to put you children in danger by exposing you to an unproven drug. They haven't ruled it out. They just don't know what to do." "That's sh - stupid." Harry van de Kamp tousled Liam's hair. "I'm sure in the handbook for raising kids it said you don't get to have strong opinions until you're at least twelve ..." "Ha ha," Liam said sourly. He itched to say something. He *knew* the vaccine was safe. Dr. Scully knew it too, so why should she act worried? He tried to think through the implications of not giving it to his friends. "What if they're wrong? Imagine if you had to fight an army of kid supersoldiers!" Bullseye. They moved on in silence. Liam knew both his parents were contemplating that unpleasant image. "That brings us to something else," his mother said, changing the subject. "What?" "Have any of your friends talked about going home, Liam?" His conversation with Ellie at New Year's sprang to mind. "Kind of. Ellie told me people might not have to stay here if the vaccine works." He stared out across the desert. The sky was pinky-orange in the sunset, like an electrified painting. Sunsets here were different than home. Not in a bad way. Just different. Marie took his hand. "You want to go home, don't you?" "Of course," he said but with less conviction than his words might imply. "But we don't know for sure Dad is safe. Wouldn't it be easier just to wait here and see how things turn out?" They were all thinking it. *How will things turn out?* "We've heard some talk too - from other parents. I think if you do hear anything, it would pay to stay quiet. Not everyone's happy about the idea." "You want me to lie if someone asks?" His mother squeezed his hand. "I just don't think it's a wise topic to be discussing." Her abrupt chuckle broke the levity. "Care to share the joke?" Harry asked. "Think of the paperwork we'll face ... trying to explain." His parents didn't mention leaving again but Liam understood what they had been trying to say. Their warning. He could guess who wasn't happy about people leaving. They were back at the start of the runway, near the buildings. They weren't the only ones making the most of the longer evenings. Liam recognised the two people sitting on the low hill when they waved. "C'mon, Sal, dinner time." Sal loped after him when he whistled, and he turned to his parents. "I'll be down soon." Sal was popular with the night patrollers who often took her out with them for company. She usually had a nap before they collected her from the classroom. He made sure she had fresh water and dog biscuits and then he detoured on his way downstairs. The couple hadn't moved from the hill. Dr. Scully had shiny eyes. In the weeks since Mulder's return she had never seemed anything less than a hundred percent healthy. "How's your birthday been?" "Well ... I didn't get my invite to wizard school." Mulder cracked a sunflower seed. "Magic's overrated anyway." "Is Mr. Skinner okay?" "He will be," Dr. Scully said. Liam toed a clump of grass. "Did he have nanobots?" Dr. Scully and Mulder looked at each other, the doctor putting a hand to her mouth to hide a sneaky smile. "Is no secret safe from you, Liam?" "Sounds like a disease, doesn't it?" Mulder said. "Hey - we didn't get you a gift. I'm sure you've got one of these already, but one more for the collection can't hurt." He dug about in a pocket, pulling out a small, thin object. "Thanks." "Genuine Democrat Hot Springs souvenir flashlight. Hang on to that ... it'll be a collector's item one day." Liam turned the flashlight on. For a small device it had a sharp beam. "What's Democratic Hot Springs?" "Not what. Where. Small place in the middle of nowhere, famous for nothing. Stopped there on my way to pick up the RV." Mr. Skinner had recovered from his illness by the following morning. None of Liam's classmates remarked on it or seemed aware there had been a problem. They were taken with another topic. Unlike the van de Kamps, who had fled their home, most of the scientists had made proper plans to join the camp. They hadn't been chased here. Cover stories had been laid months in advance. "Mom and Dad are going to say they were on sabbatical in Arizona," Ellie told him when Liam asked. "Don't look so worried - they're not sure leaving is the right thing to do." But not everyone shared their opinion, and some of Liam's friends seemed to think they'd be going home not long after school finished. At least that's what they thought - until it became known that they might not get the vaccine. -o0o- Liam ambushed Dr. Scully late the next day as she slipped between two workshop buildings. She always took this route when visiting the supersoldier. Liam often saw her when he was outside collecting dinner for Jerry. Keeping a watchful eye on the far end of the alley, he flipped over wooden planks which usually had what he needed. He didn't have to wait long. As she headed his way, she walked into the golden sunshine of the afternoon, and her crisp white t-shirt and hair glowed. He sprang up in front of her. "Is it true you're not giving the vaccine to anyone under twenty?" "Not quite." She recovered from her shock to give him a puzzled look. "Some parents are worried. We can't force anyone to take it. If we knew for sure -" She tried to sidestep him, but he moved in front of her. "*I'm* okay." "I can't tell people that, Liam." "But I'm proof the vaccine works." As soon as he said it she whipped around to see who might be in earshot. They were alone, but she was wary and lowered her tone. "We only know it hasn't caused any immediate adverse reaction so far. I don't want to give people an unrealistic sense of security. I don't want them leaving here with a bulletproof mentality." When she went to step around him a second time, he moved in beside her. "How's your friend?" Dr. Scully didn't stop. But nor did she sugarcoat the truth. "Despondent." Dr. Scully believed the supersoldier was no longer a threat to the camp, but no one was willing to put that to the test. Especially since the supersoldier himself was unwilling to be moved from the pit. If Doggett *had* told her who the commander was, she was still keeping it secret, and the camp had given up expecting him to give them an answer. Even Major Drummond had stopped badgering her. Now Doggett was just a problem no one seemed to know how to solve. "What's going to happen to him? If everyone leaves, I mean?" "What are you talking about?" He had never spoken with Dr. Scully about leaving. Had never heard her talking about it. When his parents had counseled him to be careful talking about it, did they mean her? He doubted it could have escaped their afternoon conversations. And yet ... "We won't be here forever. One day we'll all get to leave." Dr. Scully shaded her eyes to look off into the distance. "We'll work something out when the time comes. John just needs to reconcile some things in himself." "That he'll always be a supersoldier - no matter what?" Her correction was swift. "That despite everything he's still the same man. I'll talk to you later, Liam." With that, she let herself through an entrance. As Liam had guessed, Major Drummond didn't think leaving was the right thing to do. He addressed the topic directly at the following Sunday service. "The need for sacrifice and secrecy isn't over yet. We can't afford to be discovered here - there are still mysteries we are working to solve. We must not lose sight of that." *If people want to go, he can't stop them, can he? But what if he tried?* The Major - so quick to marshal adults to test the vaccine - had become the strongest dissenter in the voices asking for it to be withheld from children. *How can he go from one idea to the opposite so quickly?* Despite Major Drummond's strong words on the subject, it seemed he was powerless to force people to stay. And the first the camp knew of it was sooner rather than later. Liam's lunch went flying when the mess hall door swung into him and a scientist, arms akimbo, rushed in. The man slid to a stop in front of the Major. Liam didn't hear what was said, but an hour later the news was out. Charlie's parents had never made it to their lab that day. They were gone.