The Lambs: Part 2 (19/21) 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 29 September 8, 2012 New Mexico 11:57pm The buzzer blared at him, its metallic shriek amplifying off the cubicle walls. "Time's up!" Aaron Paskowitz banged on the door. Liam rolled his eyes. The hot water running over his head had been hypnotic. They had played outside all afternoon and as a rare treat had been allowed to stay up late watching movies on an abandoned laptop. Soap suds still foamed around Liam's feet. The bubbles spiraled the grate, an image that tickled his memory. A burst of clarity hit him so intensely it drowned out the woeful squawk, squawk, squawk of the alarm. He gasped and wobbled on his feet. *It could be there!* Liam slapped the old clock and attacked his skin with his towel. He missed a few spots and his t-shirt stuck to his back when he put it on. He was in too much of a hurry to care. "All yours," he said, passing Aaron. Thinking quickly, he took his pullover and the Democrat Springs flashlight from Mulder out of his gym bag. He stuffed the bag in a bathroom cubbyhole and the flashlight in a pocket. What he was planning wouldn't take long. Since their adventure down the hole, Liam and Ellie had speculated on the strange lines on the cavern wall. They hadn't told anyone about their trip, but Liam suspected the grownups had already discovered the hole and covered it a year ago. They probably found it when they were searching for Rudi's object. The tickle in his mind had started when they trudged back to the camp more than two weeks before. The rope was heavy, and he and Ellie had shared its weight, slinging it over both their shoulders. As they walked, Liam had sifted through memories of the adventure, bothered by a thought he hadn't been able to pin until this moment - as he watched the water circle the drain. A powerful need to know *now* filled him, overriding his initial plan to wait until morning. Fewer people would be around to question him at midnight. He scooted along the corridor on bare feet. The darkness of the passageway leading to the war room was like a protecting cloak. The lights weren't on. No one was down here. When he reached his destination, inky silence leached under the door. He wasn't surprised to find the room locked. Jiggling the door handle was fruitless. He wished he knew Jeremiah's trick as he shook the handle. He was about to slink off back to bed when he remembered his home in Wyoming. They always kept a spare key under a pot plant near the verandah. He swept the door lintel and struck brass. He caught the key as it tumbled off the ledge. Liam didn't waste any time. He slipped into the room and went to the posters on the walls. His flashlight lit up the pink Xs on the map. He studied it again - there were more marks on it but it wasn't what he was looking for. While there were plenty of papers scattered around the room and stuck to the wall, nothing matched the squiggly spiral shape (or symbol) he'd seen in the cave. He backed out of the room and replaced the key, swallowing his disappointment. It had been so perfect. He had seen the spiral tn the cave somewhere else - he just hadn't realised it. Everything seemed to click into place when he remembered the war room and its posters and maps and diagrams. Liam retraced his steps to the bathroom. All the cubicles were empty. Aaron must have been quick. Water rattled through the pipes. Liam splashed his face at the sink before shutting off the tap. A slow, rhythmic drip splattered into the sink - the only thing stirring in the midnight silence. If not the war room, where else? Their classroom? The mess hall? Dr. Scully's office? Those were places he had been since their adventure. He crossed them off his list. He would have seen the symbol by now. Drops of water trailed down the sink, mesmerizing him again. He only lifted his head when the unmistakable sound of boots marching hit the corridor. Liam stood in the doorway as men in dark clothing filed past: Rudi, Cooper, Mr. Skinner, Shu, and last, Gibson with his stooped walk. Gibson caught sight of him and waved the others on. "What are you doing up?" "Taking a leak. What are *you* doing?" "Night patrol." "Bullshit." Gibson regarded him with hooded eyes which did nothing to mask his amusement. "You kiss your mother with that mouth?" "Are you trying to get on a spaceship?" Gibson only snorted. "Goodnight, Liam. Sweet dreams." The truth struck as Gibson retreated around a corner. Liam ran to catch up, calling from the bottom of the stairwell as they climbed. "Good luck ..." -o0o- October 8, 2012 New Mexico 11:28am For a month the Trojan team kept up their nightly ritual. And for a month they showed up downcast in the mess hall the following day. No one said anything. They didn't have to. They shared a dejected slump in their shoulders that said it all. The plan - whatever it was - had failed to fire. Liam spotted his first clue the day after the group's first mission. They all turned up for lunch. He hung around their table hoping for a direct answer from Gibson, but the dark stare he got from that quarter told him not to broach the topic. After two weeks - and an increasingly common outbursts from Gibson - he realised the problem: nothing had happened. Their plan to get on board a ship must have come to nothing. The Grays weren't interested in the Trojan horse gift. "Shit. They probably wrote the myth," Toby said one day when the group finally admitted there was little sense continuing. Gibson smacked his fist on the table. "They're there. Soldiers have been coming in and out of that border territory for more than a year. It's a staging point - it has to be. There's a ship out there - I can *feel* it." Nobody argued with him. "What's a staging point?" The silence around the table was grim. Liam had asked one of those questions again. Gibson sighed. "How much do you know about the plans for colonization?" "Some of it," Liam said. "Once upon a time a group of humans made a deal with the Grays. The conspirators knew what the Grays planned, but they helped them in exchange for knowledge." "Because they planned to develop a vaccine to save themselves?" Gibson nodded. "The virus would break out and a state of emergency would be declared on or around a national holiday. A shadow agency run by the conspirators would take over the Government. "Those people affected by the virus would be unconsciously drawn to staging points - that's where the aliens would collect them. One of those staging posts is over the hills to the south of us." Liam let Gibson's explanation wash over him; he was suddenly aware of only one thing. Tick, tick, tick. Hands that would never run backwards. Liam found himself staring at the face of the clock over the swinging doors to the kitchen. The pattern. He'd just discovered it. On the clock face. It wasn't exactly the same - the pattern on the clock was sharper. More modern. But still the same basic shape - a squiggly spiral. Hands going only one way around. Like the water going down the sink. Time goes only one way. And it was running out. Slowly - the same way Dr. Scully's sickness had snuck up on them - clouds were building up over the camp. No one smiled any more. Every few days more people left the camp under the cover of night. The Trojan plan's strongest supporters toughed it out into November before they too capitulated. "We were close," Gibson said to Mulder one evening. "Close enough to get high off the exhaust fumes. It didn't want us. Any of us." Rudi shook his head. "I prayed my whole life for them to leave me alone. I feel rejected." -o0o- November 11, 2012 New Mexico 11:59am Rudi made no secret of his approach to Dr. Scully after one Sunday service. He let himself into the hangar where they had gone to escape a sharp wind and stood to one side, arms behind his back, waiting for the service to end. Dr. Scully was wrapping her scarf around her neck when he spoke. "There's no sense pretending over this. It won't work. Either they know or they don't care. We give it one more go tonight and if that doesn't work we take them out tomorrow." Dr. Scully cinched her jacket before rubbing her temple. "Come see me in the afternoon." While their mothers talked, Liam and Ellie watched him stalk away. The following afternoon Mrs. Fawbert popped into their classroom. After a quick word with Mrs. Scully, the doctor's mother swept up her sweater and left the classroom. Liam bided his time, but when Mrs. Fawbert sat next to him, he didn't hold back. "I sure hope Mrs. Scully is okay." "I'm sure she's fine," Mrs. Fawbert said. "Is there anyway to magnify the screen, Liam? I really can't read it without my glasses." They were writing up details on famous monuments which they were researching online. The time on the computer screen said there was still an hour of class to go. "Why don't I go get them?" "Would you? I've probably left them on my night stand." Mrs. Fawbert's quarters were on the same corridor as his. He raced downstairs and nearly careened into Mrs. Scully carrying a glass of water and a water bottle. At the last second he dodged her. "Sorry, Mrs. Scully." He stopped by Mrs. Fawbert's door which was ajar, watching Mrs. Scully as she knocked on Dr. Scully's room. "See that you get back to class quick smart, young man." The glasses were where they were supposed to be and Liam was in and out in a flash. He paused in the hall. Mrs. Scully had gone into Dr. Scully's room. It could mean nothing. Liam gripped the glasses case to his chest. He knew what to look for this time and Dr. Scully hadn't been able to hide the flares of agony which crossed her face more and more often. Mrs. Fawbert smiled when he returned and turned to the computer screen. "Let's see what all the fuss is about." He handed her the case and her key. "I locked the door after I left. Hope you don't mind." She gave him a bemused glance. "Not at all." Whatever ailed Dr. Scully had passed by the next morning - although Liam knew her recovery was temporary. While she was on her feet and talking about the work they were going to do studying the nanobots, those dark circles around her eyes told another story. There was still the chance she'd recover the same way she had earlier in the year, but Liam knew it was a dangerous hope. Liam caught her staring at a calendar one day - one he had made her for Christmas - and he was struck by the ominous promise of time running out. Dr. Scully had said it herself. How many miracles could one person expect? So she embarked on a feverish study of the nanobots with Shu. -o0o- November 21, 2012 New Mexico 4:35pm Clocks and calendars weren't the only way to tell the time. The desert faded as the intensity of summer heat and fall warmth waned. Color was less obvious than ticking hands, but as the eyes of tiny wildflowers closed and even the sagebrush scrub huddled together for comfort, it was another measure of time. Waiting is awful. Not only was it awful. It stole emotion. It was like they had all forgotten what they cared about. Maybe being here wasn't doing them any good? Liam trudged through the days until, one day, the tedium was broken by something unexpected. Class was over for the day, and Liam and Ellie were cleaning Jerry's tank. They had him in a small container while they emptied, scrubbed and filled the glass tank. He didn't move much, content to stay in the container. "Is this normal?" Ellie asked for the fifth time. "I think he's preparing to sleep. He isn't eating as much these days and he's hardly moved in days." "He's not sick?" "Not that he knows. I'll put his tank over there - that corner's always cold - he can hibernate uninterrupted." They looked up when Ellie's mother entered. "There you are, Ellie," Mrs. Pachowitz said. "Do you mind running on while I have a word with Mrs. van de Kamp?" They were being dismissed. "What's that about?" Liam asked as they hastily settled Jerry on a rock. Ellie smirked. "Probably Aaron. He's always getting trouble." But it wasn't Aaron. That evening in the sanctuary of their quarters, Marie van de Kamp turned over the homework she was marking. She didn't raise her head when she spoke. "We've been asked if we would like help leaving." Harry van de Kamp put down his crossword. "Why would we need help leaving? Why now?" Marie lay her hands on the homework. "We've held out so long." "Exactly." "But it's hard not to feel afraid when you know what's just over the hills." "What's changed since we decided to stay? Why the need for help?" "Apparently that's how everyone's been doing it. Elaine Paskowitz thought we might have changed our minds. Nobody wants to put the camp in jeopardy. Each departure has been carefully timed." "Who's doing that?" "Elaine didn't say. She just said they're weighing up if it's time to go. They're not going home - not yet - they would stay with a friend in Montana until - until next year. She asked if we wanted to join them." "They were pretty adamant about sticking it out a few months ago. What's changed?" "If Gibson Praise is right, then there are now more soldiers in the area than ever. I think people are asking why." Harry scratched his chin. "Say we did leave. Where would we go? We go home, that's going to raise questions." Liam couldn't contain himself. "What about our friends here?" Dr. Scully wouldn't be traveling anytime soon and Mrs. Scully wouldn't go without her daughter. Liam wondered about the other people they knew. Mrs. Fawbert was a friend of Mr. Skinner. They weren't scientists - was there any reason for them to still be here? The pull to leave was powerful - but the pull from Dr. Scully and their scientist friends was too strong. Liam's mother picked up her pile of homework and neatened the edges. "It's less than a month. They've protected us this far. My heart tells me not to go." -o0o- November 21, 2012 New Mexico 10:39pm Liam knew he wasn't supposed to talk about leaving. It was late in the evening, but when he said he was going to check on Sal and Jerry, neither of his parents questioned him. He was staring into Jerry's tank when Ellie slipped in beside him. Liam put his hand up to the glass. "I keep wondering what would happen to him if we all disappeared." Ellie slipped her hand into his. "That's not going to happen." "I don't think it will either. But if it did - I'd let him go if I could." "What about Sal?" "Sal's different. Sal can take care of herself." He reached out for the container. "Mom says you might be going to Montana." "I know. Crazy, isn't it?" He went on as if he hadn't heard her. "He's resting now. Will be for the rest of winter. Montana is close enough. He should have the chance to go home. Better than here. You'd just have to scoop him up like this ... if you had to let him go - for any reason - he'd like a pond where there was plenty of water and insects." "*If* I had to let him go, some place swampy is best?" Liam nodded. "That would work." Ellie knew what he was asking. "*If* I let him go." "In an emergency. If you weren't able to take care of him any more ..." "Otherwise I'll just keep looking after him, right? Until you can take him back?" "That would work." She squeezed his hand. "It won't be for very long. It'll all be over in a few weeks."