From drjudd@rainbow.net.au Fri Aug 30 08:36:16 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.
It was necessary to create a cut-off point for where the television show
left off and the book took up. I chose as that cutoff point the late
Season 3 episode Avatar. All material from the television show prior to
that point is presumed here. Needless to say, there are no spoilers after
that point. Prior to that, there are 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. But if you
don't know what happened in any of those, you're probably a deaf and blind
hermit who's been stranded in Antarctica for the last three years anyway.
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. There's something here for most readers, I think. For
anti-Mulder-Scully-relationshippers, you won't find any here (though there
is a little Mulder angst). For pro-relationshippers, you may be satisfied
with Scully and Skinner. For government-conspiracy-fans, that's here (big
time); for alien-experimentation-fans, that's here too. For those who
like a simple paranormal plot without the strings, there's a subplot for
you, too. Enjoy!
Comments, good and bad, are welcome; but make sure they're constructive,
please! If you loved it, tell me why; if you hated it, tell me why and do
it gently. 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. Please don't bug the
group with your comments unless they are in the context of broader
criticism. 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 (1/18)
PROLOGUE
Assistant Director's Office
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Washington, D.C.
September 10, 1996
Assistant Director Walter Skinner rifled through the papers on his
desk, trying vainly to muster some enthusiasm for his work. He hadn't
slept well, plagued by an eerie sense of unease; and that unease had not
been dispelled by a morning of administration.
His glance fell on a framed photograph to one side of the desk. He
picked it up, not so much out of sentimentality as an inability to
concentrate on his work. Damn it, he felt like he was waiting for
something. A bus...or a bomb. Shivering faintly, he looked thoughtfully
at the picture in his hands.
It was of a woman in her early twenties. She was playful and
headstrong, with a shock of auburn hair and emerald green eyes. Her name
was Grace, and she had been his wife two decades before, dying a cruel
death of cancer less than a year after their youthful marriage. Their
daughter, who would have been born only two months later, died with her.
He never spoke of her, and perhaps those who ventured into this office
sensed something of the tragedy, because not once in those decades had
anyone commented on the picture he could sometimes hardly bear to look at
but could never quite put away.
In an effort to clear his unexpectedly swimming mind, he turned his
thoughts to an agent who resembled Grace in a way that sometimes unsettled
him. Special Agent Scully - although he called her Dana in his mind, a
fact he would not have disclosed to anyone - was Grace's spitting image,
but the resemblance stopped at appearance. Where Grace was playful, even
wilful, Dana was strong and graceful and dignified.
Dana was a scientist, a medical doctor recruited by the FBI after an
impressive academic career, including the publication of her thesis,
"Einstein's Twin Paradox: A New Interpretation", now a widely quoted
source in scientific circles. The FBI's interest had been in her forensic
expertise; but four years before, she had been assigned to partner
renegade agent Fox Mulder in his work on the X Files, cases dealing in
paranormal and unexplained phenomena, with the intention of debunking his
work. Skinner, who had long been watching Mulder's work, one eye on the
truth and the other on his own superiors who would like to see it
concealed, had been fascinated by the interaction between Scully and
Mulder. Dana, he knew, was a confirmed unbeliever, and for the most part
this was unchanged - despite the fact that the growing body of evidence
was compelling; despite even her own unexplained abduction two years ago.
Yet she worked happily with Mulder, and seemed to hold him in high
esteem. The two were firm friends.
Skinner himself held both in the greatest respect. He had on more
than one occasion broken his own rule and gotten involved in their cases,
once making a deal which had saved both agents' lives. Another time, he
had been shot for his efforts to keep open an investigation into an
attempt on Dana's life, which had killed her sister, Melissa...his
survival had eventually led to the murder of his second wife, Sharon. He
had played it safe throughout his career, never ceasing to seek the truth,
but never stepping far enough out of line to endanger himself. In the
last three years, Mulder and Scully had unwittingly dragged him, mostly
against his will, into a new commitment to the truth - one far more
radical and dangerous than ever before. He had a sneaking suspicion that
the two of them would one day be his downfall - but until that day, he was
a changed man.
He considered them friends, the three of them; but where Mulder was
someone he respected and would put himself on the line for, Scully was
someone for whom he had true affection, as well. His second marriage had
lasted seventeen years before Sharon's murder just six months before.
Skinner had been framed for her death, and Scully had suspected him. That
had hurt. Mulder had believed in him and searched determinedly for the
truth; Scully had feared his guilt (as he had himself) and been reserved
in her efforts in the investigation, reluctant to prove it. It hadn't
been until after he was cleared that Scully had healed the breach, staying
with him after Sharon's funeral. She had been very kind to him that day.
Sharon's photograph was missing from his desk; that wound was too fresh.
His door burst open; the decorous, respectful knock which he had come
to expect absent. He wasn't surprised to see that the culprit was Agent
Mulder. Protocol was not the man's strong suit.
But even Mulder's protocol was not normally quite this bad. His
sleeves were rolled up and his collar, open. Appearance was not something
which concerned Skinner particularly (although he was meticulous with his
own); but it jarred with the atmosphere of the office. He suspected that
whatever it was he had been waiting for all morning had come.
"Something's wrong," he noted. It wasn't a question.
Mulder nodded. "It's Scully. She's missing."
Skinner turned half-away so that the other agent wouldn't see his
expression, one of stunned fear. He prided himself on keeping a cool head
- or at least seeming to do so. There was nothing more frightening for an
agent than a frightened superior officer. And that was what he felt now:
raw fear. He didn't puzzle on the source of his fear, but rather
concentrated on making his expression the right blend of concern and
professional interest. He turned back to Mulder. "Tell me."
Mulder pulled up a chair without being asked. "Sir, I think it's aliens."
"You would," Skinner said curtly. Aliens were Mulder's pet subject,
and his explanation for all that was inexplicable in the world. His
sister, Samantha, had mysteriously disappeared in Mulder's presence as a
child. He maintained that aliens were responsible.
Suddenly, Skinner felt ashamed. He knew he was indicting Mulder
unfairly. He was something of an expert in the field, and had a certain
amount of evidence supporting his beliefs. "I'm sorry, Agent Mulder.
That wasn't fair. Tell me what you have."
Mulder took out a notebook and scanned it. "She was seen walking
last night at approximately 22:10 in the business area of Annapolis, maybe
a half-hour's walk from her apartment. No-one seems sure of why she was
walking. We found her car a short distance away, but it was fine. If
anything was wrong, it isn't now. She passed a couple of late night
shops, but no-one remembers much. Some kids who were skateboarding in the
area reported seeing a bright light, and then she drops out of sight."
Skinner nodded slowly. "Supposing you're right. Where do you think
she is?"
Mulder shrugged slightly. "The abductions Scully and I have
investigated extensively all seem to suggest some government
orchestration. Some would say that they are fabricated by the government
from start to finish. I lean towards the view that they are genuine alien
abductions, in co-operation with our government." He paused. "If that's
the case, she could be anywhere. Abductees have recalled being on trains
and disused railroads, in disused warehouses, in purpose-built
facilities...anywhere. The only solid location I know of is the railroad
she was on last time."
Skinner was quiet for some time. Finally, he said thoughtfully,
"Agent Mulder, I can't allow you to waste time on your hare-brained
ideas. An agent is missing. You are to devote all resources to
conventional follow-up: hospitals, arrests in the time following her
disappearance, the usual."
"But Sir, I-"
"That's on the record." He paused. "Off the record, do whatever you
have to do, call in any favour you must, follow up any lead you deem
worthwhile. But find her, and find her quickly."
Mulder's brow creased. Skinner had long turned a blind eye to his
less orthodox methods, but never before had he condoned them in words -
not even off the record. "Yes, Sir."
"And this conversation never happened."
Coming in Part 2: Finding Scully/Dangerous Times
--
_______________________________________
| |
|Deslea R. Judd (drjudd@rainbow.net.au) |
|"The Owls Are Not What They Seem" |
| - The Log Lady, Twin Peaks) |
|_______________________________________|
(
geocities.com/hollywood)