Life Reclaimed (4/6)
by Donna Honeycutt and Vickie Moseley

When the man beside him got up and moved 
toward the front of the plane, Mulder chanced a 
look over to see if he could find Eddie.  Yes, 
there he was, just a few feet away.  A strange 
feeling came over Mulder and he tried to 
capture it, something about a dream he'd had 
just before waking -- but it was gone.  He 
sighed, concussions were definitely not 
conducive to great memory.  

It was dim in the cabin of the plane, but from 
what he could see, the boy look unharmed.  
Thank heavens.  Mulder had grown very fond 
of the child in a short period of time.  It struck 
him that it would be hard to give him back to 
the child authorities when this case was over.  
Poor kid -- shuffled from pillar to post, no 
family, no life, really.  But maybe, if they could 
figure out what the hell was going on and who 
had targeted him and deal with it, maybe some 
nice couple could take him in, understand him, 
love him.  He was only six, maybe it wasn't too 
late.

Provided they didn't both get killed before he 
had a chance at life.

The two men were talking.  The one who'd 
stayed up front was obviously the pilot.  Mulder 
could hear him setting flight plans with the next 
control tower.  Just from looking around he 
could tell they were in a small craft, probably a 
private jet.  Someone with money wanted the 
boy.  But why take me, Mulder asked himself.  
All the other times the families had been killed 
and the boy had eluded the captors.  What was 
different this time?

"I can't believe this is finally happening -- that 
my father's work is finally going to come to 
fruition," the man who'd cinched Mulder's arms 
said blissfully.

The pilot grunted.  "It's not over yet," he 
muttered just loud enough that Mulder could 
make it out.

"But it will be, soon.  And then we'll face the 
Coming and all will be well.  Just as it was 
written by my father in his journals."

"Yeah," said the pilot but Mulder detected a 
note of skepticism.  Or maybe it was just 
wishful thinking on Mulder's part.  He didn't like 
the sound of this supposed 'Coming' at all.

Father, journals, Coming -- the Second 
Coming?  None of it made any sense to Mulder 
and the throbbing in his head was increasing to 
the point where he thought he might vomit.  
Not a good idea, he knew, so he swallowed 
thickly.  He strained to hear more but the 
voices became jumbled and he couldn't make 
them out clearly.  Their voices became a drone 
that matched the engines' vibrations that were 
thrumming under his ear.  Finally, he 
surrendered to the darkness once more.

Sometime later, judging by the fact that the 
plane no longer seemed to be in flight, but was 
quiet and stationary, Mulder was dragged into 
consciousness as they pulled him up and 
frogmarched him down the stairs.  He looked 
around, searching for Eddie, but couldn't see 
the boy.

"What did you do with him?  Where's the boy?" 
he rasped frantically. 

One of his captors smiled grimly.  "You don't 
need to worry about the boy.  He's safe.  You 
need to shut up and not cause any trouble.  It'll 
only make it worse for you."

Never one to take a kidnapper at his word, 
Mulder was still relieved to hear that Eddie was 
all right.  He looked around again, trying to 
figure out where they were.  It was dark and 
there wasn't much light around, save for some 
sort of floodlights in the distance.  He could 
make out some mountains on the horizon, but 
no buildings, no town or city of any sort in any 
direction.

"Where are we?" Mulder tried again, knowing 
the answer wouldn't do him much good with his 
hands tied behind him.

The man who had answered him the first time 
smiled brightly.  "This place?  It's where you're 
gonna be executed," he said happily and 
laughed with his companion at the joke.  "But 
don't worry.  That won't happen for a couple of 
days.  Gotta do things by the book, ya know."

Mulder stopped asking questions then and 
tried to figure out what the hell was going on.  
'By the book' was a common phrase, but the 
way the man said it sounded like there really 
was a guide, some sort of plan or agenda that 
they were following -- to the letter.  These two 
men weren't the same ones on the plane, so 
that meant at least four people were involved, 
possibly more.  Did all this tie in with that 
journal the man on the plane was ranting 
about?

They were walking toward the floodlights, and 
as they approached, Mulder saw a number of 
shanty type buildings, trailers and tents.  It 
looked more like an archeological dig than 
anything else.  The floodlights surrounded an 
area where a huge hole had been excavated, 
the piles of dirt circling the rim of the hole.  
They skirted the hole as they walked to the 
other side.  Mulder couldn't see down into the 
opening because a tent hid the actual 
excavation.  

"What's down there?  What are you looking 
for?" Mulder asked, but this time the man just 
shook his head and refused to answer.  They 
arrived at a wooden shed and Mulder was 
thrown inside.  He heard them padlock the 
door securely and he was left alone in the dark.

Mulder sat up and leaned against the rough 
wooden wall of the shed as he tried to take in 
what was happening.  Eddie was safe, or as 
safe as he could be under the circumstances.  
By now, Scully would know what had taken 
place -- unless . . . Oh, God, if they'd gone in 
and hurt her --

Mulder couldn't let himself travel down that line 
of thought.  There would have been no reason 
to go back to the house and get Scully if what 
they wanted was Eddie.  He shook his head.  
Not the time to buy trouble, he was in enough 
as it was.  

So why Eddie?  It all came back to that.  And 
why hadn't their captors taken Eddie any of the 
other times they'd attacked if he was their 
ultimate goal?  Eddie had hidden, yes, but in a 
closet.  Anyone with half a brain would have 
looked in the closet of the kid's room, right?  It 
made no sense, and Mulder's head was 
starting to pound.  As much as he didn't want 
to let his guard down, there was little he could 
do with his hands secured behind him with 
plastic tie-downs.  He leaned his head back.  
Just a few minutes to rest.  Then he could think 
clearly and try to figure a way out of this mess.

Mulder was on the beach again.  This time, he 
looked for the boy.  "Where are you?  William, 
where are you?" he called but the words came 
back to him with the wind coming off the surf.

"William, if you're still here, answer me!" he 
shouted, pacing around the large sand 
structure.  It was enormous and the sides were 
smoothed and even.  It seemed triangular in 
shape but it was the size of a large house.  He 
couldn't see the top of it from where he stood.  
He glanced behind him.  There were rocks 
further ashore -- maybe if he got on the rocks 
he could see down on to the top of the sand 
structure.

The rocks were sharp and creviced and he had 
to be careful as he scrambled to the top.  He 
was out of breath was he reached the highest 
point.  Turning around so that he could look 
down on the sand structure, his eyes widened 
and he sucked in a breath.  It was the space 
ship he could remember them building back in 
other dreams, but this was not like the other 
sand castles built by father and son.  This was 
enormous and had lights just under a thin layer 
of sand that peeked out in growing darkness.  
Mulder got down on his knees so he could lean 
forward and get a better look, when he felt a 
hand on his shoulder.  He turned to his left and 
saw the boy.

"William," he said and smiled, hugging the boy 
to him.  "I thought you weren't here."

"I'm always here," the boy replied, displaying a 
gap-toothed smile.  The boy quickly hugged 
Mulder back.  "Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you.  And I can see you," 
Mulder smiled back at the child.  "I can see 
that, too," he said, pointing to the sand 
structure.  "What is it?  Do you know?"

"They think it's supposed to be mine, but it 
isn't.  It's from a bad place.  I don't want it."  
William was shaking his head and frowned.  
"We need to blow it up."

Mulder snorted.  "Well, Will, I don't see how 
we're going to be able to do that.  We'd need 
explosives, and all sorts of stuff to blow it up.  
Can't we just kick at the sand and the waves 
will take it at high tide?"

The boy shook his head and frowned now at 
Mulder.  "No, it's only sand on the outside," he 
said, speaking sternly as if to a small child.  
"It's metal under that.  It came a long time ago 
from somewhere far away.  We have to destroy 
it, or it will destroy us."

"Destroy us?  Who?  You and me?" Mulder 
asked, having a hard time following what the 
boy was trying to tell him.  

"No, us -- all of us.  The whole planet, all of us!"

"Will, I don't know -- "

The boy took his hand and held it.  "You have 
to believe me.  You're the only one who does 
or ever will," he said, staring into Mulder's 
eyes.  "When you wake up, you'll remember 
parts of this dream.  But you have to work fast, 
we have to hurry.  We only have a few hours till 
it's light."

*****

It was almost dawn.  Scully sat staring down at 
her cup of coffee as Drummy stalked, she 
couldn't call it pacing, around the kitchen.

"You're fuckin' joking, right?"

She didn't bother to answer this time.  She'd 
thought Agent Doggett was 'resistant' when 
they had worked together.  Of course he'd had 
a little more time to work toward the idea.

Drummy took the seat across from her, again.  
"You think these cult members, the ones that 
want 'aliens' to take over the planet want to kill 
Mulder and worship this kid.  Now I can 
understand them wanting to kill - nevermind.  
Where the hell are we supposed to start 
looking for these people?  Is there some cloud 
they hang out on?"

"I don't know where they went.  I've seen these 
. . . ships in Calgary and the Ivory Coast - "

"You've really seen these things, with your own 
eyes."

Scully took a deep breath, eyes closed.  "And 
in the Antarctic."

Drummy shook his head.

"You saw nothing?" he asked again and she 
squeezed her hands into fists before she 
answered.

"Nothing, Agent Drummy.  They were gone 
when I woke up.  I checked the house, and I 
don't believe anyone even came inside.  I 
believe E-Eddie panicked when he realized 
someone was here and ran to the tree house 
that Mulder had shown him earlier."

"Dr. Scully, they obviously had a car, which you 
did not see.  There's no way to get a 
description out and we don't we have a 
direction."

"So we try another route!" she stood then, 
Special Agent Dana Scully would not be 
browbeaten by any man, agent or not.  Her 
eyes widened.  "There's a small private air strip 
about 15 miles northwest of here.  We need to 
contact them, see if anyone's taken off in the 
last hour."

Drummy only hesitated a moment, then yanked 
his phone from his pocket.  She paced, her 
mind grabbing and rejecting ideas at a furious 
pace.  She didn't dare slow down enough to 
feel right now, she had to think.

"I've got a deputy headed over there.  I couldn't 
raise anyone by phone.  The damn thing's 
probably closed."

"Let's go."  She was already moving toward the 
door.  Drummy had no option but to follow.  

His cell phone rang before they were a mile 
from the gate.  "What's the name on the truck?" 
he asked as Scully's head swiveled toward 
him.  "Fuck.  We're on the way."

"What?" she demanded.

"The truck that met me here, the men that 
installed - "

"Damn it!" She cut him off, knowing the rest of 
the sentence.  "Was anyone at the airstrip?"

"Yeah, but it's only one man.  He'd probably 
gone to the can when I called."

"Hurry."  She seemed to settle back in the seat, 
but Drummy could see her knuckles were 
white.

The poor slob on duty at the tiny air strip was 
looking even more confused when Scully and 
Drummy burst into his office a few minutes 
later.  Posted speeds be damned.

"Yeah, I cleared them.  There was no traffic, 
not this time of night," he finished answering 
the deputy's question.

"What's your name?" Scully asked.

"Dwight, uh Dwight Nelson."

"Dwight, did they file a flight plan?" Scully 
asked before Drummy could.  

"Well sure, I don't let anyone take off from here 
without one.  I'm not getting my ass - "

"Where is it?" she cut him off and came around 
his desk when he didn't move fast enough for 
her.

"Here, right here."  He thrust the paper at her.

Her eyes raced down the page.  "They were 
headed to St. Louis to refuel, final destination 
Jordan, New Mexico.  Five hours twenty . . . 
Where the hell is Jordan, New Mexico?"

The poor man jerked open a drawer before she 
could demand it and pulled out a handful of 
maps, flipping through them rapidly.  He 
spotted the New Mexico one and yanked it 
open, spreading it out on his desk.  They 
scanned it together and she spotted it first, her 
finger poking it for Drummy.

"Who was the plane registered to?"

"Just a second." Dwight grabbed up his log 
book.  "Uh. Hopeson, Hopeson, Inc."

"What do they do?" she demanded.

"I, I don't know."  He actually quailed at the 
look Scully threw him.

"Come on," this was directed at Drummy who 
never thought to question her authority.  He 
tossed back a thank you toward the deputy and 
Dwight and was racing down the stairs after 
the diminutive ex-agent.

"Where are we going?" he asked as he entered 
the SUV.

"Back to the house.  I have to make some 
phone calls, and I want a land line."

They made it back in record time and he 
followed her inside.  She picked up the phone 
and dialed an old familiar number.  "Danny?  
It's Dana Scully.  I'm sorry to - Yes, I need your 
help."  She nodded though the man couldn't 
see.  "Mulder.  Okay, I need to know about a 
company called Hopeson, Inc. possibly out of 
New Mexico.  Whatever you can find out.  I 
know. . . thank you."  She hung up and turned 
to Drummy.  "This won't take long, I need to 
call Skinner."

"Who's Danny?"

"Danny Valido, he works at the Bureau."  At 
Drummy's vacant expression she continued.  
"He's  helped us out a lot over the years."

"He'll just . . . find stuff for you?"

"Don't analyze it, Drummy.  Not everyone 
thought Mulder was crazy, especially not the 
ones who really looked at what we were 
doing."  

Drummy winced slightly at that but didn't 
respond.  He wanted to ask her what she 
wanted him to work on, but she wasn't even an 
agent, why did he feel like he should be 
following her orders?

"Sir?  Yes, he's here.  We just got back from 
that small air strip just north of here.  They flew 
them out of there - "

"You don't know that for sure," Drummy spoke, 
but Scully ignored him.

"I've got Danny looking up the company.  Have 
you ever heard of Hopeson, Inc?  Me neither.  
They were flying to New Mexico.  Could there 
be another . . .  Thank you."  She hung up and 
turned to face Drummy.

"What's he doing?"

"He's going to meet us at the airport.  He'll 
have the tickets.  Do you have your overnight 
with you?"

"My . . . are you kidding?  We're taking off for 
New Mexico with no more than -"

"Yes.  I'm going to pack."

"I, I left a, a friend . . ."

"You left a woman in your bed?"  His face 
darkened.  "Well I hope you left the money on 
the dresser, because we don't have time to go 
by there."

"I don't pay -" but she was already up the 
stairs.  He just stood and glared.

She was back downstairs with a gym bag in 
just minutes.  He started to speak, but the 
phone rang.  She picked it up before it could 
ring a second time.  "Hello?"

"Scully? I think I have your information.  
Hopeson, Inc. is a mining company.  They 
used to be a wholly owned subsidiary of 
Strunghold Mining."  He hesitated at her gasp.  
"I picked right, huh?"

"Yeah.  Where are they based?"

"New Mexico.  Right now they're on a large job 
near a small town called - "

"Jordan," Scully interrupted.

"Yeah.  See, you don't really need me."

"Hardly.  I didn't have a clue about . . . What 
kind of job?"

"Not sure, but they've leased a lot of heavy 
equipment.  Jordan's about half way between 
Albuquerque and Amarillo.  There's no major 
construction project that I can find, and it's in 
the middle of nowhere.  What's going on?"

"I'm not sure."

"But it's an X-File?"

Drummy saw the slight curve of her lips, not 
knowing the subject of the conversation.

"Yeah, it is."

"Cool.  Call me anytime."

"Thanks, Danny."  She hung up and turned 
back to Drummy, all business again.  "You 
ready?"

He merely looked exasperated, so she headed 
to the door, holding it open waiting for him.  He 
huffed and moved past her with ill grace.  At 
the car she held out her hand.  "Do you want 
me to drive?"

He blinked at that and she saw the chauvinist 
peek out.  "That's okay."

She opened the passenger door and was 
already buckled by the time he seated himself.  
"Look, we know they're planning to land in St. 
Louis.  Why don't we have them detained until 
we can get there.  The local -"

"No.  We're talking about fanatics.  The police 
aren't equipped for this.  They have Mulder and 
the boy.  Their safety -"

"From what you said, it sounds more like they 
want Mulder more than the boy.  It's not 
making sense."

"When Walter joins us, we can bring you up to 
speed.  Just hurry."

Drummy huffed at that, but turned toward DC.

*****

Mulder woke again with a dry mouth and a 
growling stomach.  He squinted in the dim light 
of the shed.  By scooting over, he could peer 
out between a couple of the rough boards and 
see the flood lights in the distance.  It gave him 
an idea.  But first he had to get his hands to the 
front.  

He'd done it before, but after six years he was 
decidedly out of practice.  By the time his 
hands were in front of him, he was dripping 
with sweat and nearly out of breath.  He let his 
arms rest a minute while he recovered.  They'd 
tied his wrists, but his fingers were free.  It 
didn't take him long to find what he was looking 
for -- a sharp metal edge along the hinge of the 
shed door.  Being careful not to slice open his 
wrist, he sawed at the plastic tie until he cut it 
neatly in two.  

It felt wonderful to roll his shoulders and work 
his arms, but he only allowed himself a few 
minutes of the luxury.  He moved to the back of 
the shed and tried to see out in the darkness.  
From his vantage point, as minimal as it was, 
he couldn't see any other lights behind the 
shed.  He assumed that meant there weren't 
any other tents or buildings in that direction.  
He felt along the boards until he found one that 
was loose enough for his purposes.  It took 
some work, but in short order he had a 
respectable hole in the side of the shed just at 
the base.  It was a tight squeeze, but he made 
it out.

Mulder let his eyes adjust to the darkness.  
When he'd lived in the city, the blackness of 
the country often left him breathless.  Now, 
after years of living in a rural area where the 
nearest light source was their back porch light, 
and the stars spread out above him every night 
like a blanket, he had no problem picking out 
landmarks and targets.  He found a cluster of 
tents huddled near the collection of floodlights 
and headed in that direction.

There didn't appear to be any guards around, 
which he found rather odd for a kidnapping.  In 
fact, it seemed that everyone in the camp was 
asleep.  The problem was the tents 
themselves.  They were dome tents, family 
camping tents and all of them were closed up 
tight against the chill night air.  One thing for 
certain, he was cold and he could see frost on 
the ground as he walked.

There were half a dozen tents, each large 
enough to sleep four to five people if they 
crammed in like mummies.  He had no idea 
where Eddie could be among them.  He 
needed a weapon, something he could use to 
overpower anyone that might wake up and find 
him there.  

He searched around the site.  There was an 
earthmover, not exactly a delicate piece of 
machinery.  Whatever they were doing, they 
weren't concerned about destroying possible 
artifacts in the process.  He wanted to get 
closer to the floodlights, close enough to see 
into the hole.  He moved in that direction but 
was suddenly hit with a tsunami of sound 
waves.  They crashed over him, dropping him 
to the ground like a rock.  He clamped his 
hands over his ears, trying to keep his brain 
from exploding from the vibrations.  He found 
he could crawl and he inched his way away 
from the direction of the hole.

When he managed to get about twenty feet 
farther back, the sound ceased and the dead 
quiet was almost frightening.  He sat up, 
gasping for breath.  What the hell had just 
happened?  He looked around, trying to figure 
out why no one else had come running out of 
the tents, why no one else heard that horrible 
sound.  Everything was completely still and 
then he heard a loud snore coming from one of 
the nearest tents.  Could it be that they hadn't 
heard that screech?  

The search for a weapon became his priority, 
and then he'd go looking for Eddie.  He found a 
length of wood, a two by four piece of lumber 
about the size of a baseball bat.  Not that great 
going up against armed gunmen, but he 
couldn't remember seeing a gun on the two 
guys in the plane or the two goons who tossed 
him in the shed.  If he maintained the element 
of surprise, the makeshift bat would be enough 
to knock someone unconscious.  Now he had 
to find Eddie.

He crept around the tents, hoping to hear 
something.  When he felt the familiar humming 
sensation, he smiled.  As he made his way to 
the front of the tent, he heard the zipper to the 
door start to lower and he froze.  Holding his 
breath, he waited at the side, weapon at the 
ready.  When Eddie's head stuck out the door, 
he exhaled in a chuckle.  "C'mon kiddo," he 
whispered.

The boy smiled at Mulder and came the rest of 
the way out of the tent.  Carefully, he zipped 
the enclosure shut and then straightened.  He 
held out his hand and Mulder gratefully took it.

"Let's get out of here," Mulder whispered.

"No, wait.  We can't go yet," Eddie whispered 
back.

Mulder kept walking, tugging lightly on the 
boy's hand.  "Yes, we can and we are.  Don't 
argue about this, Eddie."

"No!" the boy said aloud and Mulder slammed 
to a halt, hushing him with a finger to his lips.

"They'll wake up soon.  I don't think they have 
guns, so if we can get ahead of them -- "

"We have to destroy it!" the boy insisted, not 
listening to what Mulder was saying.  "If we 
don't, it will happen!"

Not wanting another incident like those he'd 
experienced back at the house, Mulder put his 
hands on his hips and stared down at the child.  
"Eddie, what are you talking about?"

"That!"  With a pointed finger, Eddie showed 
the way to the floodlights and the large tent.  
"C'mon.  Look at it."

Feeling almost as if he were in a dream, 
Mulder followed the boy at a trot the some 100 
yards over to the area of the floodlights.  

"We'll be seen," Mulder warned.

"Come around here," Eddie reasoned, and ran 
about the perimeter to the far side of the lights, 
and into a gap in the tent.

Mulder sighed in disgust.  He should grab the 
boy up, gag him and run, instead he allowed 
the boy to lead him to the side of the hole 
closest to the tents.  Even inside the tent the 
floodlights gave him enough light to see, just 
no understanding of what he was seeing.

"What is it?" Mulder breathed, looking at 
something more fantastic than he'd ever seen.  
It was exactly as he'd dreamed for years -- a 
structure of some sort but totally foreign to his 
eyes.  Foreign . . . alien.  

Though the actual size was hidden beneath 
thousands of tons of dirt and rock, Mulder 
could see gleaming metal.  There were 
protrusions coming up from four sides to form 
an open circle.  He detected markings, 
possible writings on the surface of the craft.  
He remembered back to what Scully had told 
him of the craft she'd found in Africa so many 
years ago.  Could it be?

"It's their's," Eddie said simply.  "There's a 
bunch of them.  But if we destroy it, they'll 
know we can destroy them.  They'll go away."

"Just like that?" Mulder questioned, not taking 
his eyes off the top of the structure.

Eddie shrugged.  "Yeah.  Just like that." 

They were both staring down at the hole when 
someone grabbed first Eddie and then Mulder.  
Mulder fought back, but when he saw they held 
Eddie, too, he stopped.

"I told you that shed wouldn't hold him," the 
one holding Eddie said to the others.  The four 
were holding Mulder.  "Make sure he doesn't 
get away again," he said as he pulled Eddie 
back to the tents.

One of the four smiled, and in the stark glow of 
the floodlights his eyes chilled Mulder to the 
bone.  "Just what I've been waiting for," he 
rasped.  One of the men grabbed Mulder's 
shoulders, holding his arms firmly behind his 
back while the other three proceeded to use 
him for a punching bag.

The first guy had knuckles of titanium and used 
them mostly on Mulder's midsection.  When 
one particular punch hit a rib on his right side 
dead on, the crack was audible.  His tormentor 
smiled and continued.  When 'Oscar de la 
Hoya' tired, 'George Foreman' took his place.  
Mulder lost track after that and couldn't really 
say who finally sent him into oblivion.

*****

Walter met them at the gate.  "There's been a 
small change in plans.  Agent Hotchner has a 
case in LA.  We're going to hitch a ride with 
them and after they're dropped off, the pilot will 
take us to Albuquerque.  It'll be faster."

Scully nodded and followed him, trailed by 
Drummy who was muttering again.  

The private jet caused her eyebrow to rise, but 
she kept quiet.  Thinking of those roach 
infested motel rooms she and Mulder had 
enjoyed wouldn't do any good now.  She took a 
seat beside Walter after quick introductions 
and they were cleared for takeoff, no doubt 
pissing off a few commercial airliners.

After a few minutes, Walter excused himself 
and left her side.  Almost immediately, she felt 
someone standing beside his seat.  "I'm Agent 
Morgan, Derek.  Would you mind . . . "

She smiled and he took the seat Walter had 
vacated.  "I don't mean to bother you, but you 
were Mulder's partner, weren't you?"

I still am, she thought but only nodded.

"I've studied him.  We're good."  His hand 
encompassed the team on board the plane.  
"But he's the gold standard.  I've read his 
profiles."  The attractive man shook his head.  
"He was - "

"Spooky?" Scully said softly.

Dereck chuckled.  "Yeah."

They both looked up as another young man 
joined them.  He held out his hand to Scully.  
"Spencer Reid."

She nodded as he took the seat opposite her.  
"I've studied Agent Mulder as well.  The 
profiles he developed on Roche, Boggs, 
Barnett - "

"I remember," she interrupted him softly.  "You 
seem to have a very good team here, that's 
important.  You can rely on one another.  Just 
be very careful that you look after yourselves 
while you're doing this."

"Bill Patterson," Derek said.

She nodded.  "This is not a long term career, 
especially if you work . . . alone."

They talked for a while, mostly them asking her 
questions.  She smiled internally, Mulder the 
icon, she'd have to tell him about this.  He'd 
pretend it didn't matter, but he'd be pleased 
nonetheless that his work was the object of 
study.  Derek caught the yawn she tried to 
stifle and looked over at Spence.  "You should 
get some rest.  I don't know what you've been 
pulled in on, but since you have AD Skinner 
with you, I imagine it's big.  Good luck."

"Thank you."  She shook both of their hands 
and then looked around.  She spotted Walter 
beside Drummy across the plane and behind 
her.  Walter's eyes were closed and he had 
reclined his seat, resting while he could.  She 
followed his example, grateful that the two 
young men had taken her mind off of what she 
faced for a little while.  She needed to be fresh 
when they arrived.

*****

Mulder woke up sometime later.  The sun was 
beating down on the shed -- this one a metal 
outbuilding with just a small crack at the door 
and one small screen near the top.  No 
windows, but the amount of light the crack and 
screen let in were more than sufficient to see.  
Unfortunately, it was totally insufficient to allow 
for air circulation.  It was easily somewhere 
near 100 degrees in the shed.  

His left eye was swollen shut and his left side 
was burning -- at least those were the top of 
the list.  His whole body was hurting.  There 
was blood on his shirt, he figured from his nose 
but it didn't feel broken.  Damn.  Sweat was 
streaming down his face and stinging his one 
open eye.  From the little he could tell, he 
figured it was somewhere near noon.  It was 
going to be a long afternoon till sunset.  He let 
his head fall back down to the floor with a 
painful thud.

He was so thirsty.  Breathing hurt.  Keeping his 
eyes open hurt.  He thought back to just a few 
months ago when he was still a wanted man, 
living like a hermit in the back country of 
Virginia.  Those were the days, he sighed 
internally.

He had to think but his head hurt far too much 
to make any sense of the little he knew.  And in 
the back of his mind there was that hum again.  
He closed his eyes and concentrated as much 
of his energy as he could on that hum.  After a 
while, it started to sound like something.  He 
willed his body to relax and just let his mind 
follow the hum.  It would lead him somewhere.

This time it wasn't the beach, it was the tree 
house in the woods.  Eddie sat with his back 
against the far wall, knees drawn to his chest, 
tears running down his face.  "They hurt you," 
he accused.

"It's okay, sport, just a bloody nose.  I've had 
'em before," Mulder assured the boy as he 
climbed the rest of the way up the ladder to join 
him on the floor of the little structure.  "Are you 
okay?  They didn't hurt you, did they?" Mulder 
asked, looking the boy over, feeling his hair for 
an indication of a cut or bump.  He didn't know 
what he'd do if he found one, but it was 
something Scully always did to him.

"No.  They didn't hurt me.  They're afraid of 
me," Eddie said glumly.  "And they think I don't 
understand them so they talk around me.  
They're planning to kill you tomorrow."

Mulder sighed.  "We just won't let that happen," 
he answered.  He knew Scully was on her way.  
He just had to hold out until she arrived.

*****

The flight from LA to Albuquerque with just the 
three of them was actually less comfortable 
than with the whole team.  "So, now that we're 
alone, what the hell are we heading into?  
What is it about this kid?" Drummy demanded.

Walter looked over at Scully, giving her the 
lead.  She took a deep breath.  "I told you 
Mulder and I were . . . familiar with this group.  
What I didn't tell you was that 'this kid', Eddie, 
is my son, Mulder's son, William."

She watched the expressions race across 
Drummy's face.  She also saw the memory of 
the rumors he had heard regarding them, 
probably the wagers that had been placed on 
her pregnancy.  "William was taken when he 
was a few months old by this same cult.  Agent 
Reyes and I were able to track him down and 
rescue him, but the cult members were . . . 
killed when the ship I told you about took off.  
After that I knew I couldn't keep him safe.  I . . . 
I put him up for adoption.  I didn't know where 
William was, I, I thought he was placed with a 
family to keep him safe."

"That worked out well," Drummy said dryly, 
then realized his mistake when he met 
Skinner's eyes.  "Sorry.  How did they find 
him?"

"I don't know.  I thought he was away from . . ."

"Look, I'm sorry - "

Scully shook her head.  "We don't have time 
for that.   We have to find out where they've 
taken them and get them back."

Skinner sat forward then.  "We'll rent a car in 
Albuquerque and drive to Jordan.  We don't 
want to make much of a presence and there's 
not exactly a Ritz Carlton in Jordan.  We're 
going to need to reconnoiter, find where this 
major construction Danny mentioned is.  I'm 
concerned about cover while we're looking 
around.  The terrain is flat and I'm sure if 
they're who we think they are, there will be 
guards posted.  Scully, are you armed?"

After a moment she nodded.  "It's in my bag."

"I don't suppose you've been target practicing 
lately."

"Uh, yes, I have.  When Mulder . . . it felt like 
something I needed to do."

Skinner grinned.  "You beat him again, didn't 
you?"

Her cheeks pinked and she didn't bother to 
answer.  Drummy just watched them both.  
Skinner rose from his seat.  "I'm not dressed 
correctly for this.  If you'll excuse me."  He 
grabbed up his bag and retreated to the 
lavatory.

"Dr. Scully, are you okay?"

She met Drummy's eyes.  "We have to do this.  
We know they're more than willing to kill for 
what they want, and they have Mulder and our 
son.  I have to be okay and we have to do this."

He nodded and settled back with an extra 
laptop the team had on board.  Pulling up 
Google Earth, he started checking out the area 
around Jordan.

*****

It was desolate, and hot.  They checked into 
the small motor court in Ragland, the closest 
town to Jordan.  Skinner and Scully checked in 
as a married couple, Drummy taking a room 
down the hall.  He and she switched and 
everyone took quick showers.  The hottest part 
of the day had passed, so after changing, they 
took a ride toward Jordan.

They spotted the construction site from a 
distance.  They could see the standard green 
construction fences, but no good reason for 
them.  This wasn't a place people would be 
walking past, certainly no sidewalks to protect.

"That's one hell of a mound of dirt they've 
moved," Drummy mentioned.  He was right, 
even at this distance they could see the dirt 
rise above the fence in the distance.  It was 
one damn large site.

"Okay, we need to head back.  If we're just 
tourists driving around, we don't want to get 
any closer. They have to have guards posted.  
We need them to think we've taken a wrong 
turn."  Skinner pulled over to the side, to make 
a U-turn.

"Wait," Scully said.  Skinner looked over at her 
and saw her hand lightly rubbing her brow.  
Nasopharyngeal mass - the words came to him 
as he knew they came to Mulder at her 
slightest twinge.

"Scully?"

"Wait a minute."  The buzz, it was so faint, but 
was this what Mulder had been hearing, 
feeling?  *William?  Is that you?*  The buzz 
hyped up at her question to near pain, but it 
was welcomed.  *William, we're here.  We'll 
find some way to get you and Mulder out. I'm 
your mother and I'm going to rescue you.*

She turned to Skinner.  "This is definitely the 
right place.  Head back to the motel."

"What happened?" Drummy leaned forward 
from the back seat.

Scully looked out the windshield.  "William told 
me."

There was dead silence from the back seat as 
Skinner finished his turn and headed back 
toward Ragland.

"We need to eat and get some rest.  We can't 
do anything out here tonight, but maybe we 
can learn what they want people to think is 
going on."

Skinner pulled up to motel and Drummy 
jumped out.  Then Skinner and Scully headed 
to the bar and grill across the street.  They 
entered and took a booth to the side, then 
ordered dinner.  Skinner watched as Drummy 
entered and looked around.  He spotted 
another  African-American male at the far end 
of the bar and headed that way.  He took the 
stool next to him.

"Don't see many brothers out here," the 
stranger said.

"Didn't think so.  I'm Mose."

"Luther," they bumped hands and Drummy 
ordered a beer and a burger.  

After taking a long pull on his beer, Drummy 
looked back at Luther.  "I just finished up a 
construction gig in Texas and I liked the area.  
You know of any work around here?  I saw 
what looked like a mother of a job west of 
here."

Luther chuckled.  "Yeah, it's a mother all right.  
That's where I am.  Pay's not bad, but the 
company in charge is rat fucked.  They're 
probably hiring day labor.  If you like I can take 
you out there in the morning.  If you don't get 
on, you'd  have to find your own way  back to 
town."

"That'd be cool.  What'ja mean rat fucked?"

"The head guy, he's young, took over from his 
father when he died, I hear.  That was before 
my time, but how he's makin' a profit . . . " 
Luther shook his head.  "None of my business 
as long as my paycheck don't bounce."

"What're you building anyway?"

"That's just it, we ain't building, we're 
excavating.  I don't know, maybe he's found a 
dinosaur graveyard or something."

Drummy looked up as his dinner was placed in 
front of him.  "Thanks," he murmured to the 
waitress and picked up the burger.  After a 
couple of bites, he turned back to Luther.  
"Hey, I don't care as long as the pay's decent.  
I'm staying at that excuse for a motel across 
the street.  If you're serious, I'd like a ride out 
there tomorrow."

"Sure.  Just meet me here at six thirty.  We get 
as early a start as we can, before the heat, ya 
know?"

Drummy nodded, his mouth full.  Hot damn!  
He'd get inside that fence and look around at 
least.  So the boss was crazy, well that fit into 
Scully's cult.

Skinner and Scully had also ordered dinner 
and since the waitress seemed friendly 
enough, they started a conversation about the 
area.

"I was born here, that's about the only way you 
find this place," Janie grinned down at them.  
"Don't get many tourists, unless they're on their 
way to Carlsbad or on to California.  It's picked 
up some lately, due to all the work over near 
Jordan."

"Yeah," Skinner said, "we drove past that on 
the way here.  Looks like a huge site.  What's 
going on?"

Janie shrugged.  "Diggin' is all I know.  This 
Hopeson Company came in nearly a year ago 
with all this big earth movin' equipment.  The 
people runnin' the place don't come over very 
often, but the workers like to come here and 
eat occasionally, just for something different."

"Just digging?  Aren't they building 
something?"

"Well they sure haven't yet, but they've moved 
a ton of dirt," she laughed again.  "Probably 
more like ten or twelve tons.  It's a mining 
company, so we thought they'd found 
something, but I haven't heard what it might be.  
Doesn't look like we're gonna get rich off of it in 
any case.  You want some more coffee?"

They both took another cup.  "Are there 
caverns around here?  You know, like 
Carlsbad?"

"I've sure never seen or heard of any.  That 
might bring in some tourists, so if that's what 
they're looking for, I wish them luck."  She was 
called to the kitchen then.

Janie was busy after that, so they finished their 
dinner and left without acknowledging 
Drummy.  Back in Skinner's room Scully sank 
into the chair.  "We need to get out there."

"I know, but we can't do anything tonight.  We 
don't know the terrain, what surveillance they 
might have.  Besides, you've been up since, 
what one this morning?  You have to get some 
sleep."

She looked at him incredulously.  "You don't 
really expect me to - "

"Yes, I do.  There're three of us here to handle 
this and we all need to be at the top of our 
game.  When Drummy gets here we'll find out if 
he's learned anything, then we'll come up with 
a plan.  Are you still able to . . . to feel 
William?"

She shook her head in despair.  "I can't do 
what Mulder does.  The artifact had no effect 
on me."

"Okay, but you know that William is out there.  
We have to assume that Mulder is with him."  
Before she could answer there was a knock on 
the door.  Skinner pulled his gun and looked 
out the peephole.  "Drummy," he said softly 
and opened the door, staying completely out of 
sight.

Drummy stepped inside and shut the door 
behind him.  "Well, I have an in for the 
morning.  My new buddy is going to pick me up 
at the bar and grill and take me in to see if they 
have any day labor.  At least I can get inside 
the fence."

"Great.  You can look around and contact us.  
Scully and I can park the car in that dip we 
saw, it won't be completely out of sight, but at 
least less obvious than just parked.    We'll 
come in on the far side of the dirt mound.  That 
should keep us out of sight of the main area.  
You'll need to make sure your gun stays out of 
sight."

"I'll use my ankle holster."

"Go on to bed, Scully.  Rest if you can't sleep.  
We don't know what we're going to have to do 
tomorrow, so we need to be ready."

She nodded and rose to her feet reluctantly.  "I 
just feel like we're running out of time."

Skinner put an arm around her shoulders and 
squeezed, but didn't bother with platitudes.  
Scully hurried down the hall to her room, she 
didn't spot anyone moving at all outside, but 
could hear music from the bar they had visited 
earlier.

She quickly dressed for bed and stretched out.  
Skinner was right, she needed to turn this off 
and rest.  "Mulder, William, I'm here, I'll find 
you."  She rolled over, pulling the covers tightly 
around her.  

*You need to hurry.  They've hurt him bad and 
it's going to get worse.  They want to kill him 
and use me.  Help us.*

She sat straight up, the dark was 
overwhelming and she was disoriented for an 
instant.  Then she remembered where she 
was.  "William?"  It felt both silly and comforting 
to say his name aloud in the empty room.  "Tell 
me what I need to do.  Please, I want to help 
you, tell me what I need."  She lay there 
quietly, but nothing came to her.  She finally 
slept again from sheer exhaustion and that's 
when he appeared to her.

*You fight me when you're awake.  Stay asleep 
and listen.  They're building something to hurt 
Mulder, they're going to hurt him tomorrow and 
he's already hurt bad.  Bring Walter and that 
other guy and get us out.  Mulder thinks you're 
going to need guns.  It has to be different from 
the last time, when I was baby.  They got away 
then, I can't let them go again.  You need to get 
here and get Mulder out of the way so I can 
work.  Don't forget.*

This time she didn't wake, sleeping on through 
the night, taking the rest her body desperately 
needed.

When she came awake the next morning, she 
was on her feet before she processed waking.  
William had talked to her last night.  They 
would need guns and Mulder was already 
injured and it would be worse today.  Damn.  

She took one of the shortest showers on 
record and was dressed before Skinner called 
her cell phone.  "Scully?"

"I'm ready.  Mulder's injured.  We need to get 
moving."

"How . . . never mind.  Drummy's leaving now 
to meet his friend.  We need to be behind the 
traffic going to the site to work.  The rental car 
will stick out, but we'll be close behind them.  
Come on down to the room."

She hung up and grabbed up her bag, taking it 
with her down to Skinner's room.  Drummy 
spoke, then headed for the bar.  Skinner could 
bring her up to date on their plans.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" He 
asked after Drummy shut the door.

"Coffee."

Skinner gave a grim smile.  "I think we're going 
to need some sustenance.  It might be a long 
day."

She nodded, hating the time it felt like they 
were wasting, but followed him to the car.

After a filling breakfast and the emptying of the 
parking lot, Skinner turned toward Jordan.  
"We'll have to hike from where we leave the 
car to the 'back' of the site.  Drummy should be 
calling soon with directions and hopefully the 
layout of the place."

Scully looked down at her watch again and 
kept quiet.

*****

Drummy and Luther pulled into the employees' 
parking and got out.  "That looks strange," 
Luther said watching a large group of people 
near the entrance.

"What?"

"They're not letting people go to their stations.  
Wonder if somethin' happened to the 
equipment?"

Drummy looked around and saw what the man 
was talking about.  Everyone seemed to be 
clumped up at the entrance and no equipment 
was moving.  Not good.  They approached the 
crowd and Luther spoke to one of the men 
milling around.

"What's up?"

"Don't know.  They're telling people to go 
home, that there's no work today.  They want 
the site cleared."

"We drove all the way out here.  Do you see 
any vandalism or anything?  This don't make 
sense." Luther was squinting, trying to see into 
the construction site.

"Tell me about it.  Looks like they're setting up 
a pay station.  Damn, I need this fuckin' job."  

Drummy looked over where Luther pointed and 
saw a small building with what looked like a 
drive up window.  There were people inside, 
and as he watched the workers began lining 
up.  

"Looks like you made a trip out here for 
nothin'," Luther said to Drummy.  

"Hey, I appreciate the lift."

"Hang out and after I get my pay, I can take 
you back."

"That'd be great.  Go ahead and get in line.  I'll 
hang out here."  Drummy watched Luther and 
the other man join the line, which was not 
moving fast at all.  Scully had been right, 
something was happening and he needed to 
get inside.

He moved to the side, hopefully out of the way 
and unobtrusive.  He pulled out his cell phone 
and dialed Skinner's phone.  

"Skinner."

"I don't have a lot of time.  There's no work 
here today, their paying off everyone and 
sending them away.  No equipment's moving."

"They don't want witnesses," Skinner said, 
glancing over at Scully.  "Can you get in?"

"Workin' on it.  You better hurry and go wide, 
away from the entrance."

"Got it."  

Drummy broke the connection and pocketed 
his phone.  Looking around, he began making 
his way to a large bulldozer parked closest to 
the line.  There was a disturbance in line and 
several of the guards moved in that direction.  
Drummy took immediate advantage of the 
situation and moved himself quickly but quietly 
behind the large machine.  Moving carefully, 
watching everywhere, he made his way deeper 
into the area, closer to the actual excavation.  
He spotted something they hadn't been able to 
see from outside.  There was a canopy, no, a 
tent over the actual hole, hiding whatever they 
had uncovered from sight.

There were obviously people under the tent, so 
he avoided it moving around to what seemed 
to be semi-permanent living quarters.  There 
were trailers here and several storage 
buildings.  The sound of hammering startled 
him and he ducked behind a dump truck.  Who 
was building something?

continued in part 5