From drjudd@rainbow.net.au Fri Aug 30 08:55:15 1996
OFFSPRING
DESLEA R. JUDD
drjudd@rainbow.net.au
Copyright 1996

DISCLAIMER

This book is based on The X Files, a creation of Chris Carter owned by
him, Twentieth Century Fox, and Ten-Thirteen Productions.  Fox Mulder,
Dana Scully, Walter Skinner, and a number of lesser characters including
Bill Mulder, Mrs Mulder, Samantha Mulder and her clones, Maggie Scully,
Melissa Scully, Captain Scully, Sharon Skinner, Kimberly Cooke, the
Cigarette Smoking (Cancer) Man, the Well Manicured Man and his offsider,
Frohike, Quiqueg, Gautier, Jean Gautier, Ellen, and Alex Krycek remain the
intellectual property of those parties.  A number of other characters are
the author's creation and are copyright, and may not be used without her
written permission.  These include but are not limited to Dr Karen
Koettig, Agent Grbevski, Melissa Samantha Scully, Grace Skinner, Clone 1
(Cynthia), Clone 3 (Carolyn), Clone 4 (Catherine), Dr Sam Fieldman, Dr
Paul Sturrock, Dr Marion Pieterse, Wendy Tomiris, Serena Ingleburn,
Amarette, Dr Jillian Maitz, Hallie, and Emily Trent.  Any queries
concerning ownership of minor characters not mentioned here should be
directed to the author.

(See Pt 1 for complete spoiler, content, and comments info).

A few spoilers from Pilot, Duane Barry, Ascension, One Breath, Colony,
Endgame, Anasazi, Blessing Way, Paper Clip, Nisei, 7.31, Piper Maru,
Apocrypha, and Avatar.

I've rated this book R just to be on the safe side, but I think it's more
PG-13, in truth.   There's some low-level sex (three scenes, more
emotional than anatomical), low-level bad language, low-level violence,
and that's about all.

Comments, good and bad, are welcome; but make sure they're constructive,
please!  My e-mail is drjudd@rainbow.net.au, but don't worry if you see
something else in your "reply" header like magna.com, because Rainbow.Net
shares a server with another ISP called MagnaData.  And if you think my
work's worth stealing, I'm flattered; but don't even think about it. 
Archivists, feel free to add this to your collections; but be sure to let
me know.

OFFSPRING BY DESLEA R. JUDD (15/18)

SEVEN CONTINUED

A Warehouse
Unmapped U.S. Government Territory
North Dakota
March 13, 1997

	    A few minutes later, they sat in Samantha's cell.  It was safe there,
she explained; she had doctored the surveillance camera so that the
security guards only ever saw a repetitive tape of her doing routine
tasks.  Scully gathered that Samantha's years in custody had left her with
more skills than winning at Patience.  Frohike, she said, knew where to
find them when he wanted to.
	    Mulder was breathless with excitement.  "Samantha, we have to get you
out of here."
	    She gave him a gentle smile.  "Your friend told you it wasn't as
simple as that, Fox.  There are others here, too.  I have to get them
out.  I would prefer your help, but I will understand if you feel the risk
is too great."
	    Mulder looked at her, incredulously.  "Don't be silly, Samantha.  Who
are they?" he asked.
	    Samantha hesitated, shooting Scully a glance.  "They're abductees. 
Like Dana."
	    "<> like Dana?" he asked, automatically repeating her words. 
Scully reflected that she didn't think she'd ever heard him use her name -
even about her, much less to her.
	    Samantha hesitated once more, but finally, she admitted, "They're
pregnant.  All of them.  They  only bring them here if they get pregnant -
otherwise they let them go."  She looked at Dana, piercingly.  "They
wondered if you got pregnant, since you got away before they could find
out.  They watched you for a while, and decided you didn't.  But I
wondered."  She paused.  "I see by your face that you did."
	    Scully met the other woman's gaze for a long moment, trying to decide
whether or not to trust her.  Finally, she nodded.  "She was born this
morning."
	    "She?  It was a girl?"
	    Wordlessly, she nodded, suddenly frightened.  She was sitting here
with her baby's mother, and she was frightened.  Finding her voice, she
said tremorously, "Samantha, what do you know about all this?"
	    "I know most of it," Samantha replied.  "I'm something of a computer
hacker, as you've seen.  As you probably realise, a number of projects are
going on, all to do with alien genetic material.  There were the cloning
experiments, which created alien clones of humans; and Fox, you came
across the results of those.  There have also been human clones and
alien-human hybrids, and a few experiments with the morphing aliens, as
well."  She paused.  "I and a small number of others have been the basis
of these experiments.  We have been lucky in that we have been well
treated, because we are the centre of the experiments.  Others, such as
the hybrids and the pregnant women, have often not been so lucky.  When an
experiment does not work as planned, terminal force is often ordered." 
Mulder winced, remembering a trainload of alien-human corpses he had once
found.  They had been viciously executed.
	    Samantha went on.  "I have no doubt that other extra-terrestrial
related testing is occuring, but that is outside of my knowledge.  The
various genetic tests and experiments have all been with a view to
warfare, both nuclear and biological.  Their immune systems are different
and they have a capacity to withstand radiation.  Their craft and other
debris from their planet emit it, and they are capable of doing so
themselves at will, I believe."  Her brow creased.  "I don't think they're
trying to utilise the radioactive qualities themselves - more the capacity
to withstand radiation.  The idea is twofold - one, to create a breed
which are capable of fighting in nuclear or germ war conditions, and two
(and I gather this has become the primary aim in the last decade) to
create a breed which will survive such war, by engineering human genes to
incorporate the survival characteristics of the aliens."
	    Mulder spoke.  "How long has this been going on?"
	    "Decades," Samantha responded.  "Understand, it's a long process. 
First, they thought that to utilise these qualities, the hybrids and
clones needed to be almost entirely alien.  And genetic engineering was in
its most primitive stages."  She paused.  "They found that the early
hybrids were too alien.  Rebellion was a problem because they had those
other, less desirable alien traits - such as high level psi, the ability
to emit radiation, extraordinary intelligence, and so on.  Later, they
tried cloning, then engineering in various ways to create more human
hybrids."  She paused.  "The early hybrids, which were mostly alien, were
incubated in alien mothers.  They found that human mothers miscarried. 
They thought it was an immune response, but they could never correct it. 
Later hybrids, who were increasingly human, were carried by humans.  Most
of them also miscarried, but there have been a few successes.  The human
mothers seem to have an increased complication rate - hypertension,
placenta pravia, gestational diabetes, and the like.  They don't know
why.  As I presume you found, the gestation period is shorter, too;
because the alien gestation period is only six to seven months."  Scully
started in sudden comprehension.  That was why Melissa's lung function was
that of a term infant.  It also explained her toxemia despite a lack of
history of hypertension in herself or her family.  "The hybrids, who now
tend to be 40-60% human, are usually alien in appearance.  Their immune
qualities and so on are quite satisfactory, however; and ten years ago,
that would have been enough.  But now that human survival in as complete a
form as possible is the primary aim, they are attempting to reduce the
alien content further, giving human appearance and as great a human DNA as
possible - not to mention increasing the rate of successful pregnancy. 
Tests are ongoing."
	    She wasn't sure if she wanted to know, but she had to.  "What do you
know about the tests on me?" Scully demanded.
	    Samantha turned to face her.  "Human ova - mine - with alien splicing
at a human-alien ratio of 3:1.  The sperm, I believe, came from one of the
clones, with human-alien ratio of 2:3.  The resulting child should have
been a little over 50% human.  They tried the clones for the alien content
with the hope of overcoming the problem of human appearance.  They haven't
succeeded previously with such a combination, however; the foetuses seem
to have the same sort of blood as the clones - green and acidic, as you've
seen.  The mothers miscarry - again, an immune response.  One mother gave
birth, but came in contact with the infant's blood in childbirth and
died.  The child, in turn, had some sort of immune response to the
mother's blood and also died."
	    Scully shuddered.
	    "But you survived," Samantha said, awed.  "And so did the baby -
didn't she?" she added, hurriedly.
	    She nodded.  "I became pregnant with your ovum, but not the clone's
sperm.  Walter, my partner-" she paused diplomatically (and how strange it
was to call Walter her partner!  Mulder was her partner.  Walter was -
well, Walter) "-um, beat it there."  Mulder smirked.  <> she
reproached mentally.  "Melissa looks entirely human, and her blood seems
normal.  DNA testing has shown the splicing you refer to.  She's about
87.5% human."
	    "DNA testing?" Samantha queried.
	    Mulder answered.  "That's the other interesting thing. 
Coincidentally, Scully was caught in an accident with nuclear waste at a
power plant.  Everyone else died, but she and the baby were fine.  She
knows more about it than me, but enzyme activity seems to have been
responsible.  The DNA testing was done to see if there had been any
mutations as a result."
	    Samantha's eyes widened.  She stared at them, stunned.  "Well, I'll
be- it actually works with that little alien input!" Recovering a little,
she added, "That's incredible!" Noting their strange looks, she went on,
"You must understand, you do acquire a certain scientific curiosity about
these things when you live them.  I didn't mean to offend, Dana."
	    Scully shook her head.  "No, that's fine," she said absently. 
Cautiously, she continued, "We knew you were the genetic mother,
Samantha.  We ran a check on what we could construct of her from the DNA
we got from Melissa.  Mulder was a very close match.  We knew it had to be
you."  She met the older woman's gaze, suddenly very frightened, very
protective of her daughter.  She resisted the urge to shout, <>
	    But Samantha took her hand.  "I'm not her mother, Dana.  You have no
idea how many children of mine I've seen being carried by other women, how
many I've seen miscarried, or born and died, or even murdered.  At some
point you stop thinking they're yours.  Because no amount of pain you can
suffer compares to the pain of the women who carried them."  She looked
away, tears in her eyes.  "There was one...he was a hybrid, and he looked
- grotesque; there's no other way to say it.  He was part morph, and they
knew as soon as they saw him that he could pass on the retrovirus - it was
the only part-morph they ever made."  She swallowed hard.  "They killed
him, right there in front of me and the mother."  She paused.  "My heart
broke that day, but I survived.  The mother didn't.  They hypnotised her
to not remember, but even though she forgot the events, she never forgot
the pain.  She suicided a week after they released her."
	    Scully bowed her head, ashamed of her thoughts.  Moved, she drew
Samantha close, her normal reserve forgotten.  "I'm sorry," she
whispered.  Mulder looked on helplessly.
	    After a long moment, Samantha drew away.  Composing herself, she
repeated, "No, they aren't mine; but I do feel protective of them, just
the same.  That's why I have to get them and the mothers out."  Mulder
nodded wordlessly, his eyes bright.
	    Scully spoke.  "Where are they?"
	    Samantha flicked her head downwards.  "There are more cells downstairs."
	    They were interrupted by a series of beeps outside the door as
someone keyed in an access code.  Scully and Mulder each drew their guns,
and Mulder moved in front of his sister; but Samantha pushed him aside.
	    The door burst open, and a young woman in her twenties burst in. 
"Samantha!"
	    Samantha's tone was brisk and professional.  Clearly, Scully thought,
Mulder's sister ran things among the prisoners - and the girl was her
offsider.  "Hallie, what is it?"
	    The girl was in a state of panic.  "The security guards are clearing
out, and the support staff are already gone.  I checked the chief of
staff's desk.  It's pretty much cleared out, too; but there was a memo in
the photocopier.  The order came through this morning."
	    Samantha's jaw dropped.  "So soon?  I thought we had at least another
month!"
	    Hallie shrugged.  "According to his e-mail, he knew there had been a
security breach last night-"  <> Scully thought "-and he asked
for instructions.  I gather that was the impetus for accelerating the
order."
	    "What order?" Mulder asked.  "I'm her brother," he added, by way of
an incomplete introduction.
    	Hallie dismissed this.  "I know that ," she said scornfully.
	    "News travels among the prisoners," Samantha said as an aside.  "The
order is to terminate the project."
	    "The project?" Scully asked suspiciously.  "Or the project subjects?"
	    "They're one and the same thing," Samantha said calmly.
	    Mulder grabbed her by the arm.  "All right, let's get out of here."
	    But Samantha pulled away.  "How long?" she asked Hallie.
	    "I don't know.  But with security gone, I'd say not long."
	    The older woman turned to Mulder.  "Fox, you and Dana go and find
Frohike and get him out.  From the questions he was asking me, I'd say he
was most interested in the computer systems room, just off the west door -
the one you came in by.  I'm going to warn the others.  It shouldn't take
long."
	    Mulder's eyes blazed.  "No way, Samantha.  I'm not leaving you."
	    "You're an agent, Fox.  You know better.  You have to."
	    "No!"
	    Samantha leaned forward and kissed him gently.  "Yes, Fox.  You
must.  And you will.  Because you know it's the right way to do it."  She
paused.  "When we get out, I'll meet you at the eastern door - or whatever
remains of it.  Hopefully, I won't be alone."
	    "And what if you don't?" he demanded of her.
	    She smiled then, sweetly, the way he remembered from when they were
children.  "If I don't, then you'll go on.  You'll find the other women,
if there are any, and you'll look after them and Scully and her baby, and
you'll go on."  She took his hand.  "But I will."
    	It broke his heart to do it, but he nodded.  Taking Scully by the
arm, he hurried out.

	    Ten minutes later, they were in the computer systems room in the
building's western wing.  Scully wiped a bead of perspiration from her
brow at the carefully controlled climate of the room.
	    Mulder was searching.  The building was empty; there was no need for
discretion.  "Frohike!" he called, to no avail.  "I don't think he's
here," he said, more annoyed than concerned right this minute.  Damn it,
his sister was on a kamikaze rescue mission and he couldn't even help her
because he was busy searching for an alcoholic paranoic!  "He's probably
found the executive bar and is getting drunk right this minute," he
muttered.
    	"You don't mean that, Mulder."
    	He shot her a look, then admitted, "No, I don't."  He sighed.  "Come
on, let's keep looking."
	    But before they could leave the room, Scully's phone rang.  She
flipped it open.  "Scully."
	    It was Samantha, and her voice was tinged with urgency - no, fright. 
She was speaking quickly - too quickly.  "Scully, I've found it.  I've
found the bomb.  I can't disable it, and we've got less time than I
thought.  You have to get out."
	    "How long?"
	    "Fifteen seconds."
	    The words hadn't fully reached her when Scully's eyes widened.  She
grabbed Mulder's arm and pulled him towards the door.  "Can you get out?"
she demanded, her voice louder than usual with barely controlled panic.
	    Samantha's voice was resolute.  "I don't think so.  Tell Fox I love
him.  And kiss the baby."
	    Scully yanked open the door and dragged Mulder out.  He had some
inkling, then, and he tried to tear away.  Scully held him with all her
strengh.  "Mulder, no, you can't get to her in time!"  
    	They struggled for precious seconds.  Incredibly, Scully was able to
drag him a few feet from the building.  The phone flew a good few feet
further still, and both of them screamed in its general direction,
"Samantha!"
	    Mulder leaped for it, landed heavily on his stomach.  He grabbed it. 
"Samantha, I love you!"
	    Scully reached him a moment later.  She could hear Samantha, her
voice high and clear and strong.  It was a voice of courage.  There were
three beeps in rapid succession, then a second of silence in which she
spoke.  "Don't mourn, Fox.  This is right."
	    And then the building blew.

	    Scully opened her eyes.
	    She was conscious first of the tremendous heat emanating from behind
her, then of the rough gravelly surface beneath her.  There was a howling,
roaring sound.  She dragged herself to her knees and looked around.
	    It was an inferno.
	    There was nothing left of the warehouse, it seemed, except for a few
sticks.  There was no way of knowing what remained behind the wall of
flames,  but Scully suspected there wasn't much.  She turned to her left.
	    Mulder sat, cross-legged, staring dully into the blaze.  He was
bleeding from one shoulder, but seemed oblivious to the fact.  He was
rocking, hugging himself.  Scully thought he looked like a wounded animal.
	    She went to him and put her hand on his shoulder.  "Mulder," she
yelled to be heard above the flames.  She squinted against the impossibly
hot wind.
	    He turned to look at her.  "She's still in there!" he shouted.  "My
sister's in there!"
	    "Mulder, no-one could have survived that!"  She tried to make her
voice gentle, which was a ridiculous exercise, given the decibels with
which she had to use it.  "She's gone!"  She took his arms and leaned
closer, trying to convey with her face the sorrow for him that she
couldn't convey with her voice.  "She's gone."
	    He looked back at the raging warehouse.
	    This wasn't how she'd meant to tell him, shouting above a howling
firestorm; but somehow, she knew it was right.  "Mulder?" she cried. 
There was no answer.  "Walter and I thought of a name!"
	    He turned to look at her.  "Melissa?" he yelled.  He showed no
surprise, and no confusion at her statement, which she realised must seem
utterly out of context.
	    "Melissa...Melissa Samantha."
	    Mulder stared at her for a moment, then crumpled.  He buried his head
in his hands.  She held him tightly, and there in the heat and the noise,
he wept in her arms.

	    They found Frohike an hour later.
	    He was collapsed on the eastern side of the complex.  He'd been
outside when the explosion occurred, but had apparently found himself on
the receiving end of flying schrapnel.  He was burned, bleeding, and
concussed; but according to Scully, he would live.  
	    They took him to Mercer General Hospital and stayed with him.  His
burns were second degree and might scar.  They would certainly pain him
for weeks to come.  Skin grafts were a possibility.  But Frohike was in
reasonably good spirits.  Mulder had a feeling this was the sort of
episode which kept him in the government surveillance game.  One of these
days, he thought, Frohike's quest for the ultimate adrenaline rush would
get him killed.
	    Samantha, Frohike told them, had caught up with him and, distant and
preoccupied, told him to get out.  She'd led him to an exit, but when he'd
turned, she'd gone back into the building.  Less than a minute later - not
enough time for her to reach any of the other doors - the warehouse had
gone up.  She could not possibly have gotten out without him seeing.  He
didn't have to tell them that she could not possibly have survived without
his knowledge.
	    Mulder turned away at this, but his look was resigned.   Scully asked
him about the other women, but Frohike shook his head.  Samantha had not
gotten any of the women out.  Any who had survived the blaze would not be
capable of escaping the troops which he was sure would go in to kill any
survivors.  The project was a failure, so they had decided to erase the
evidence and start fresh.  Scully nodded in understanding...but
understanding didn't help.
	    So many women, so many unborn.  So many hopeless, useless deaths. 
And she had been allowed to survive to raise her daughter.  <>
	    But she knew why.  This unholy experiment had had nothing to do with
God, with the natural forces of creation.  And God had remained distant of
it as a consequence.  But in seeking what was truthful and right, she had
returned to God what was God's, as Mulder had put it.
	    And God had smiled on her child.
	    Even in the pain and the suffering and the darkness of that night
through which she comforted her tortured partner, Dana Scully felt
singularly blessed.  Somehow, she knew that everything was going to be all
right.
	    And somewhere in the ruins of the warehouse, green acid bubbled and
boiled like a witches' brew.
	    Like an omen.

Coming In Part 16:  Speculation/A Visit To Virginia Mulder/Admissions/A Proposal

-- 
 _______________________________________
|                                       |
|Deslea R. Judd (drjudd@rainbow.net.au) |
|"The Owls Are Not What They Seem"      |
|           - The Log Lady, Twin Peaks) |
|_______________________________________|

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