Changes 13
By PamalaSt

7:21am--In a hidden base somewhere in England


The man in the gray striped suit stood outside of the room, looking into the large glass viewing window at the doctors focused on their task in the operating room below. Lab-coated technicians buzzed around, making the necessary preparations. The man took a long draw from his cigarette and slowly released the smoke from his lungs. In a few minutes they would be ready for the syringe, he thought, as he gently tapped his jacket pocket. He flicked a section of ash onto the floor. After one more long pull on the cigarette, he allowed it to drop to the floor before crushing it under his shiny, black shoes, acrid smoke leaking from his nose and mouth in a steady gray stream.

The exit door opened slowly. "So," came the voice from the door behind him. "If you won't be needing anything else, I'll be on my way."

"You're late," the smoking man warned.

"I had ... things to take care of," Krycek replied. "So, if there isn't anything else..."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out an empty Morley's package. He crushed it in his fist then threw it down at his feet. "Yes," he hissed, "you have adequately completed your task." He cast a furtive glanced into the room at the tiny arm that hung limply over the lab table below.

"Thank you," Krycek said, with an edge of sarcasm in his voice.

"There is one more thing I require of you, Mr. Krycek," he said in a low voice.

"And that would be?"

Slowly and carefully, the man brought out the large syringe filled with the black fluid. "In a few minutes, we will be making history. I would like you to be there to witness this momentous event."

"Me? I don't think--"

"I don't pay you to think, Mr. Krycek. A few minutes of your valuable time and then you may go," he said. As an afterthought he added, "Of course, once you are on your way, you will be certain to again give your full attention to that other matter we discussed."

Krycek nodded slightly.

"Good. I expect that you won't disappoint me."

With that, the smoking man turned and opened the door to the lab. He motioned for Krycek to walk in first. Then, he entered without looking back, closed the door behind them, and pulled down the blinds obscuring the view.

=====
The viewing room appeared much larger from the outside. Krycek was directed to a chair near the rear of the viewing theater, which consisted of two rows of seats above a large glass window. He watched the smoking man open a door and descend to the operating room. It was then that he allowed himself to take a deep breath. At first, he thought that he had been summoned to be executed. Or worse, he thought, to be experimented on. Seeing Emily's lifeless body on the table below had quelled his initial fears, but conjured up new ones.

Krycek recalled the day he was ordered to retrieve the body. They had wanted him to substitute it with a Jane Doe from the morgue. Instead, Krycek filled the tiny coffin with sand bags. If Agent Scully couldn't have her daughter put to rest, he wasn't about to add to her burden by giving her an unnamed corpse to worry about identifying. The chances were good that no one would ever look inside the coffin before it was sealed. Still, he wanted to take no chances. Scully had suffered enough. And if by an accident of fate, she suffered knowing that the coffin was empty, it was a suffering she could endure, he reasoned. At least he had given her back the cross.

He recalled taking it from Emily's neck before placing her into the refrigeration cylinder. He had held it in his palm and marveled at what it represented. Agent Scully's faith. Scully's strength. Her determination to survive everything that the conspirators had put her through. Hell, the little talisman had even lent its strength to Agent Mulder after her abduction. It was a powerful thing, this faith, however misplaced it was, he thought, his attention focused on the present once again.

The smoking man had handed the syringe to the person in the white lab clothing who sported a blue head mask. The other members of the team followed his lead and donned their protective gear as well.

Krycek watched as the smoking man and the blue man exchanged words, and as he made his ascent back into the viewing theater. He noticed that he secured the door with a keycode before seating himself next to him.

"Bear careful witness, Mr. Krycek. You are witnessing the salvation of the human race tonight."

Krycek watched as the smoking man fished inside his pocket for the pack of cigarettes that he'd emptied and discarded earlier. No matter, he didn't relish the idea of being so close to oxygen tanks and the lit end of Cancerman's cigarette. Though he had a nearly full pack inside his coat pocket, Krycek offered him nothing. Nothing except his presence, demanded by the price of being a bought man. There were drawbacks to selling one's soul to the devil, he thought absently.

"Aren't you the least bit curious about what you will be witnessing, Mr. Krycek?"

"Why bother with curiosity when you mean to tell me anyway?" His tone was abrasive. For a moment, he considered the consequences of his boldness. Until he heard the chuckle escape the older man's lips.

"Perhaps I will hold my tongue and let you see for yourself," he said, pointing downward at the technicians.

They were positioning the syringe along the lifeless arm. A technician glanced upward and upon his companion's nod, the black fluid was injected into the corpse.

-----

Operating Lab

"Doctor?" asked the young technician.

"Yes?" replied the blue masked man.

"We were told that we would be experimenting on a corpse today."

"And?" the blue masked man replied.

"Sir, can they hear us up there?"

"No, you may speak freely."

"The body ... it's very cold, and it seemed lifeless. But ..."

"Come on, son, spit it out."

"Sir, before the injection I--I thought I saw her leg move. Dr. Harper, I appreciate the opportunity to be on your research team, but experimenting on a corpse is one thing. I can't be part of experimentation on the living."

"David, you saw nothing. Do you understand me? Nothing. Tomorrow, I'll accept your resignation, if you still choose to give it to me. Right now, I expect you to do your job. National security depends on it. Do you understand me?"

The young technician nodded solemnly. "Yes, sir." He went about his business.

After a few moments....

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