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The Y-Files

Case File #1Y2 - 1021: Minke Whale Fishing

Part II

 From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   Jan-21 1:42 am

   To: PROXICOM

   OOC for a moment . . . Proxicom!!! I'm so glad that you decided to come play

   with all of us! I'm glad that you're enjoying yourself so far; you've been

   invaluable to this case. Will you be virtually joining us Y-Philer's for dinner at

   MSSagan's new apartment on this evening? You can RSVP in the dinner thread.

   Talk to you soon dear!

   Smiles,

   Jadzia :)

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-21 1:45 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   As I drove Agent Kiwiphile and myself to the Orville Institute, I tapped my

   thumbs on the steering wheel trying to put things together. A meteorite,

   carrying a virus, taken on board a ship, which boarded the Windsong, taking all

   but two, possibly three, of its passengers on board. Two in the hospital, in

   quarantine, probably dead by now, one possibly escaped, possibly spreading a

   virus that has the potential to wipe out the nation. This meteorite was

   deliberately "mined" for this virus. Why? As a weapon? Or was there more to it

   than that?

   I sighed. I seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. Agent Kiwiphile was on her

   laptop, and suddenly her expression got grim. She read me an email from Agent

   Proxicom. Fish stock depleted in the area. Of course. Why does every Y-File

   involve depleting fish stocks. I only hoped that if the virus could be picked up by

   fish, they would die before they could get caught and put on the market as

   sushi. Our problems seemed to be multiplying. I only hope Agent Proxicom

   wasn't directly exposed to whatever this virus was.

   And yes, I was thrilled with the assignment to do an autopsy on a corpse that

   died from a virus described as "Ebola on steroids."

   Not to mention the fact that we had to meet SAC Jadzia. I pulled into the next

   McDonald's we came across and bought milkshakes for Agent Kiwiphile and

   myself, while we pondered which task to tackle first.

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-21 1:45 am

   To: PROXICOM

   *bringgg*

   'Proxicom here'

   'Proxicom, this is Kiwiphile. Listen to me carefully, you may have been exposed

   to a deadly new strain of virus. This is a level 4 pathogen. You must arrange for

   the immediate quarantine of the Russian crew, and get yourself checked out. DO

   NOT BOARD a commercial flight until you are given the all-clear.

   Then meet us at the Orville Institute in DC.'

   'OK, um, Agent Kiwiphile?'

   'Yes'

   'Is this level four pathogen fatal?'

   'You saw those men dying Proxicom, if its not an airborne virus, you should be

   OK. But until you get checked out, be very careful. Good luck.'

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-21 1:57 am

   To: PROXICOM

   MESSAGE TO: SA Proxicom

   FROM: SA SaraZ

   SUBJECT: URGENT, #1021Y

   Agent Proxicom,

   Once you and the captain are cleared, I need you to bring some blood and

   tissue samples from the captain, assuming he was in direct contact with his

   crew. If he was, I need to know why he didn't catch this virus. From what I hear,

   it's strength is unbelievable. His blood may contain antibodies, either natural

   somehow, or they were placed there. Please make sure he is available for

   further questioning, if needed as well.

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-21 2:14 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   We sat in the brightly lit McDonalds and sipped our milkshakes. The painkillers

   were starting to wear off and I winced slightly when I lifted my arm.

   'You're due for more percodan SA Kiwiphile.'

   I shook my head no. 'I need to keep a clear head right now. In fact, I think we

   need some back-up tonight.'

   I had a feeling I'd used up my good luck quota for the day.

   'You're right' said SaraZ, 'and we're low on ammunition thanks to that gun

   battle. How about we swing by the JEHB and meet with Jadzia. I need to pick up

   some more evidence jars anyway.'

   Grim faced, SaraZ sped off into the night while I sent an urgent message to SAC

   Jadzia.

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-21 2:22 am

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   URGENT MESSAGE:

   SAC Jadzia,

   SAC SaraZ and I are on our way to TJEB now. ETA 10 minutes, or 5 if SaraZ

   doesn't slow down. We need a warrant to search the premises of a research

   facility called 'the Orville institute'.

   Plus we feel we need back-up. perhaps Agent's Willmore and Keila could join us?

   And anyone else you see fit to assign of course.

   I must apologize for my worrying you, it's good to know you care. I only hope AD

   Skinner is as sympathetic. My medical insurance is covered and up to date, no

   need to worry on that score.

   As for avoiding life-threatening situations...this is the Y files, I can make no

   guarantees on that score.

   SA KIWIPHILE

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-21 2:38 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   We arrived at the JEH building in 7 minutes, thank you very much. Agent Jadzia

   was in neither the broom closet or our new area in the sub-basement.

   "Maybe she went to get some coffee." I said. "We may as well sit down and

   wait. Probably should call Agent Willmore, too, and Kelia."

   I decided to sit down and go over my notes while we waited. Looking at my

   watch, I realized I hadn't slept in three days, and I caught myself starting to

   doze off. I needed coffee, but my legs just didn't want to move to go find any.

   The scratches and bruises I received from falling into that hole were starting to

   ache. I looked over at Agent Kiwiphile, who winced every time she moved, and

   decided I had nothing to complain about. I yawned.

   "Kiwi, if I doze off, wake me up when SAC Jadzia gets here."

   Agent Kiwiphile yawned too. I guess after all the stress of our recent events,

   sitting down was making us tired. "Yeah, but who will wake me up?"

   I winked. "Agent Willmore is coming in, remember?"

   *********

   OOC: Okay, I've been at this way too long tonight and now all I can write about

   is sleeping!!! I think I need to take a nap RL. Catch up with this when I wake!

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-21 2:56 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   I yawned and stretched, taking the last few seconds of wakefulness to call

   Willmore.

   'Willmore here'

   'Hey its me, Kiwiphile.'

   'How are you? Are you calling from the hospital?'

   I was touched by the note of concern in his voice.

   'No, me and SaraZ are at TJEB, we need you and Keila to come over here. We

   have a *yawn* really important, um *yawn*, oh just get over here, we're in the

   broom closet'

   And with that, I hung up and fell asleep.

   From: PROXICOM

   Jan-21 3:41 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Right I will find him, no matter where he went.

   I decided to search through the harbour, some sailors must have seen him

   leaving. He couldn't disappear without leaving a trace. Luckily enough, a British

   ship was in the next dock, one of the sailors said he noticed a black Rover in the

   car park nearby, which is (I mean the Rover not the car park) very rare in Russia

   of course. The Rover wasn't there naturally when I arrived at the car park. I

   drove to the next airport to gather if they? booked a flight or stayed here.

   From: PROXICOM

   Jan-21 3:51 am

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   Thanks a lot agent Jadzia, I am flattered by your invitation, and as a newbie I

   feel it would be my duty to join, but I am terrible sorry I will be away for a week.

   I have serious problems in my family. Believe I would really go if it were possible

   anyway.

   Out of character: this is my last check in I will be back on Monday 31rd Jan.

   Have a nice time! Next time I won't miss a dinner with you.

   From: PROXICOM

   Jan-21 4:05 am

   To: PROXICOM

   I was constantly checking the map while driving. Siberia is a vast land, there is

   nothing you can keep to if you want to find a certain route. Within 20 moments I

   got totally lost. The only thing I could see was a deserted building in the

   distance. Let's consult the map! No buildings were taken down there. Oh, God

   this seemed to be a pretty old building, those who worked on the cartography

   must have known of it.

   I had to have a look, so I drove there. It was like usual, signs of "No

   Trespassing" "Personnel Only"...I have the immunity towards these things. I

   left the car outside and climbed the wall. The building seemed to have been out

   of use for ages, I had no idea what it could be previously. The doors weren't

   locked so I entered. The first floor looked like a laboratory full of samples flasks

   and other attributes of a laboratory. I was bouncing from room to room there

   were no signs of life at all. I did the same on the second floor, when ....from the

   window...I glanced the black Rover standing outside. My brain started to work,

   when someone hit me from behind I immediately fainted....

   From: Morley Cigs (MORLEYCIGGS)

   Jan-21 11:38 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Out of character: I'm blushing:)

   In character: How dare you pinch my cheeks!

   From: SamanthaJ3

   Jan-21 1:30 pm

   To: PROXICOM

   Totally OOC...

   Special Agent Proxicom,

   I'm so glad you've joined us in this folder as well. I hope real life goes smoothly

   for you while you're away from us, and I know we'll all be looking forward to

   seeing you back in the cases when you return.

   SamanthaJ3

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   Jan-21 2:35 pm

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   When I got back to the broom closet, I found both SAC Sara and SA Kiwiphile

   leaning back in their respective chairs, snoring lightly. I edged my way over to

   the desk, deposited the two cups of coffee that I was carrying and turned back

   to AD Skinner to retrieve the third cup of coffee and the federal search warrant

   that he was carrying.

   "They've been going full steam for days now, sir," I told The Man by way of

   explanation. "This is probably the first chance they've had to rest".

   "So it would seem. At least this time they requested the proper paperwork

   _ahead_ of time," he growled, with a significant look at the warrant in my hand.

   "Indeed. And thank you again for your help in obtaining this warrant, sir. I know

   it's not easy to find a federal judge who's awake at this hour of the . . . errr,

   morning".

   Then Skinner did that jaw grinding thing that I've always found so sexy. I had to

   drag my eyes away from his mouth to meet his eyes as he said laconically, "The

   Honorable Judge Markham _wasn't_ awake, Agent. If you want to make friends

   in the Justice Department, I'd advise that you get your warrants during business

   hours from now on".

   "I'll keep that in mind, sir," I replied dutifully, as AD Skinner headed back down

   the hall.

   Turning back to my tired fellow agents, I waved a steaming cup of java under

   first Sara's, then Kiwi's nose. As they looked at me groggily (and with no little

   annoyance, I might add), I handed them their cups of liquid caffeine. Leaning

   back against the desk, I said, "Mornin' sunshines. So what's happening with this

   case. Why did we just roust a federal judge out of his bed for a search

   warrant?"

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-21 3:43 pm

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   I took a long drink of hot coffee, burning my tongue. Damn my impatience, oh

   the humanity!!

   The lack of sleep had made me somewhat incoherent and, well, weird. Sorry.

   "Well, you see, SAC Jadzia," I started, "We have to search this facility because

   they may have this mutant alien virus that is like Ebola on steroids going on

   there."

   SAC Jadzia raised an eyebrow and stared levelly at me.

   "Seriously." I said.

   Agent Kiwiphile sighed, and told SAC Jadzia about her sources, showed her the

   satellite pictures, and told her what SA Proxicom had found.

   "Yes. So we need to go there. Willmore is supposed to meet us here, with Agent

   Kelia shortly."

   SAC Jadzia looked at Agent Kiwiphile. "Agent, I don't think I want you doing

   anything until you are recovered from your injury."

   Agent Kiwiphile stood up and did a few dance moves, showing SAC Jadzia she

   was well enough. I knew she was holding in a scream that I'm sure I'd hear

   later. SAC Jadzia shook her head. "Fine." she said. Agent Kiwiphile sat down.

   "How shall we proceed?" I asked. "Oh, and by the way, has that corpse arrived

   yet? And have *you* heard from SA Proxicom, because we haven't. That woman

   has a better disappearing act than Jimmy Hoffa."

    From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

    Jan-21 4:29 pm

    To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   I rolled my eyes at the mention of Jimmy Hoffa. Agent Mulder had actually given

   me a supposed Y-File about Hoffa which I had decided to conveniently "lose" in

   the back of the filing cabinet . . . but to answer SAC Sara's question:

   "Actually, Agent Proxicom did check in last night. She's in Russia working with

   local authorities to locate the captain that wasn't infected. The investigation's

   proving to be rather tricky and communications from Russia aren't particularly

   reliable, so she'll probably be out of touch for awhile. Agent Proxicom's European

   connections are turning out to be quite a boon on this case."

   SAC Sara & SA Kiwiphile looked at each other with relief in their eyes. The last

   thing we wanted was _another_ missing agent. On the ghost case, SA Cathy

   _still_ hadn't been located, and now SAC Elisheva hadn't reported in for the past

   twelve hours either. Pushing aside these dark thoughts, I continued: "The body

   arrived late last night. It should be down in the morgue -- bagged and tagged. I

   think that we should head down there so that Sara can autopsy the body and

   we can start the lab work on the tissue samples. If we're dealing with 'Ebola on

   steroids,' I'd like to know exactly which strain of Ebola it is and exactly what type

   of steroids it's on -- figuratively speaking.

   "Meanwhile, Agent Kiwiphile, I want you to get some rest. Take a nap while

   Sara's conducting the autopsy. We'll wake you when it's time to go to MSSagan's

   dinner party. Agent Willmore can drive you and Keila there".

   "And the research facility?" Kiwiphile asked. She was a little put out at her

   sudden forced inactivity.

   "We'll handle that after 5PM. They should be closed for the day by then, which

   means there'll be fewer people to get in our way . . . or shoot at us. And I want

   to give AD Skinner a quick briefing on the status of this case. It seems that

   we've stepping into something a lot bigger than we first suspected. Although,

   he's probably used to hearing that by now".

   Gathering up our files, SAC Sara and I stepped out into the hallway. As soon as

   Sara closed the closet door behind us, we heard Kiwi let out a long-suppressed

   yell of pain. Sara and I exchanged knowing glances, and I popped my head back

   in the doorway.

   "Agent Kiwiphile . . ."

   "Yes," she replied with feigned innocence.

   "Take the dammed percodan already!"

   Having delivered that pearl of wisdom, I closed the door again and Sara and I

   took off down the hall in different directions -- with me headed toward The Man's

   office, and Sara headed to the morgue.

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-21 7:03 pm

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   I grumbled to myself as I headed down to the morgue. Just what I needed

   before a dinner party, a biohazardous autopsy. I had only ever performed three

   autopsies before in my life, and all of them were with assistance from someone

   who really knew what they were doing. Of course I had several classes in

   forensic psychology, but autopsies weren't exactly my specialty. I wasn't even

   sure how to properly spell the word.

   I considered calling in Agent Scully to assist me, from what I'd heard weird

   autopsies were a specialty of hers. However, she needed yet another SA

   throwing autopsies at her in the middle of the night like she needed a fork in the

   eye.

   I suited up, putting on all the swell hazmat gear that made it nearly impossible

   to work, got the body out of isolation, and turned on the recorder... report

   follows.

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-21 7:18 pm

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   *audio recording*

   The time is 4:12AM, Friday, January... uh... 21st, 2000. This is Special Agent Sara

   K. Zeuty, performing an autopsy on Russian sailor Vladimir Kosanavich. The

   subject is reported to have died of a massive infection, possibly due to an

   unknown virus. Subject is being treated as a biohazard. I am preparing to open

   up the seal now.

   Oh [bleep]

   (pause)

   [Several shrieks and yelps]

   Get off me!! Dammit!! I'm never doing another [bleep]ing autopsy again,

   mother[bleep]

   (approx 5 min of bleeping)

   What the...

   Ummm.. okay. I'm okay. The body.. well there is no body to speak of... Upon

   opening the bag there was nothing but a brownish sludge. As I began prodding

   at it, it sort of... came together, into some sort of insect like shape... and

   began... crawling around, on me, all over the floor, until finally returning to a

   brown sludge again...

   I am trying to contain the material now. It seems to be inactive again. Its almost

   like... those creatures in the forest, what are they called? Grex? Something like

   that. They exist as small life forms, but when they need to move to a new

   environment they come together, differentiating into a large worm like creature,

   then disassembling again.

   If this is some sort of virus, It has completely destroyed whatever was left of

   poor Vlad. Perhaps it was the raise in temperature once out of refrigeration...

   Hopefully with nothing left of Vlad it died without something to feed on, or

   became dormant... I'll need to have further analysis done. Dammit I hope that

   video recorder got all of this.

   I'm going to shower down and unsuit now.

   *recording ends*

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-21 8:50 pm

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   OOC; strange, I wrote a post a couple of hours ago and its never turned

   up...maybe its in the wrong thread. Here goes again. Oh, and also OOC, I just

   found out that the movie the Andromeda Strain is about a virus from outer

   space, so have looked up juicy facts to incorporate. :)

   ************************************************************

   After being told to take a percodan by SAC Jadzia, I felt it would be best to settle

   down and do what I was told. After five minutes of rapid thumb twiddling I

   realized it was hopeless. I had to do something, ANYTHING.

   I looked up all I could find on bioterrorism on the office computer and ended up

   feeling depressed. If we were dealing with some kind of counter-government

   agency, or a militant terrorist organization, there was a chance we may already

   be too late to prevent the spread of the disease.

   I sincerely hoped that SAC SaraZ would come up with some conclusions from her

   autopsy, but what we really needed was a contact inside the Orville Institute. I

   picked up the 'phone and called Tai Jackson.

   'Hello, who is this please?

   Strange, I didn't recognize Tai's voice.

   'May I speak with Tai?'

   'Who is this?'

   I noticed a series of clicks on the line and hung up. Damn! It looked like Tai was

   indisposed, if not worse. I hoped that he had sense not to keep copies of our

   discussions about the Orville Institute.

   Now what? I began to feel that I was in that strange 70's film, the Andromeda

   Strain. If I remembered correctly, not many of the original investigators survived

   that case. I called All Saints Hospital, may as well check on Will while I had time.

   After running the usual gamut of bureaucrats, I discovered that Will was in a

   Stable but critical condition, which was a step up from just critical. I found myself

   talking to his workmate, one Dr Ranjeet Singh.

   'Agent Kiwiphile, I am aware that William had some dealings with you in regard

   to certain patients here last week. I may have someone who is interested to

   talk to you.'

   'Well, yes...' using a not very subtle cover in case of bugging, I hoped Dr Singh

   would follow, 'My cousin has been suffering from a rare viral infection after

   visiting Zaire. I was hoping I could speak with someone involved in that field.'

   'Ah, I see. And is your cousin near the DC area?'

   'Yes, as a matter of fact he is.'

   'Then tell him to call this number for the information he needs, I have to go now.

   Good Luck Agent.'

   I looked at the number, it was DC alright. Dialing it I wondered how I could

   convince whoever answered to talk to me.

   'Hello?'

   'Yes, this is Agent Kiwiphile with the FBI, I was referred to this number by a Dr

   R. Singh.'

   'Yes, I've been expecting your call. I can't talk on the 'phone, can I meet you in

   ten minutes outside your office?'

   'ten minutes'.

   I hung up, hopefully this was a lead that wouldn't dry up.

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-21 9:24 pm

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   I went straight down to the main doors of TJEHB. It was still dark, dawn was

   another couple of hours off. Rugging my coat up I shivered. My New Zealand

   bones were feeling the chill of unaccustomed winter. I watched snow fall for a

   while (still a novelty to me), until I became aware of a figure across the road.

   Checking left and right, I negotiated the icy tarmac. There he was, huddled in a

   doorway. Balding and bespectacled, this guy resembled an office worker who

   had taken speed. He kept darting his head left to right, swallowing nervously.

   'SA Kiwiphile?

   'Gidday', I said, hoping my antipodean charm would put him at ease, 'who are

   you?'

   'I'm Dr Bennett Frohm. I work for a company you may be interested in-'

   I cut him off and stood closer, holding his arm gently, 'The Orville Institute?'. I

   tightened my grip, this guy looked like he could change his mind any second and

   bolt.

   'How did you? Oh, well never...never mind. I, I need to inform you of some

   serious happenings at my place of work. I need your help. I may be in danger. I

   stole this file,' He was talking at a hundred miles an hour, thrusting his briefcase

   in to my other hand, he started to try and open it on the street. He put a file into

   my coat pocket, and was struggling to close the case.

   'Whoa, slow down there. We may as well go into JEHB across the road. You'll be

   safe in there.'

   He crossed the road with me, still babbling. 'It's all in there, in that envelope. all

   the passwords, all the keycards. I can't go back with you, they'll kill me. But I

   can't let them get away with it. The consequences are too grave. They don't

   even care who's exposed. You have no idea. I left work yesterday after those

   government men turned up....', he stopped mid-sentence and we both swung

   around as a car pulled up across the road. It sat there like a sleek shark, motor

   idling.

   The window rolled down slowly. Panicking, Bennett wrested his arm from my grip

   and tore off down the street.

   Calling for him to stop, I saw him make the corner, slipping and picking himself

   up.

   My blood ran cold as I saw the sedan do a u-turn and follow him, tyres

   squealing.

   Moving as fast as I could to the corner, I peered into the snow flurries. No sign

   of him.

   I was pondering what best to do when I heard two dull thuds. Exactly the sound

   of muffled gunshots, I thought. I decided it was time for back-up. Dialing SaraZ's

   cell-phone, I had only heard one ring when a voice spoke from behind me.

   'Agent Kiwiphile'

   I turned and faced a stranger. He was tall, dressed in a typical trench-coat and

   suit. His eyes looked cold as he extended his arm towards me.

   'I will relieve you of that case Agent. You are to consider this matter out of your

   jurisdiction. Certain govt. departments have a keen interest in the informant you

   just spoke to.'

   Hoping he couldn't see the envelope hidden under my coat, I passed him the

   case. 'I get the feeling no-one else will get the chance to talk to him, ever.'

   He said nothing, taking the case impassively.

   'A wise move Agent.' He turned to leave, pausing for a moment and looking back

   at me. 'Oh and by the way, try to keep your nose out of other peoples business

   in the future, Agent. I'd hate to see such a promising career cut short by

   tragedy.'

   Resisting the urge to kick him in his well pressed shins, I watched as he

   disappeared into the shadows again. Gripping the file and

   putting my 'phone to my ear, I climbed the steps of TJEHB.

   'SAC SaraZ? There’s been a new development. 

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-22 1:27 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Dammit, the connection was dead. Dialing again as I took the stairs two at

   a time, I got SAC SaraZ's voice mail. She was obviously still busy on that autopsy.

   I hoped that it was safe for her, working alone in the morgue on the victim of an

   unknown but deadly virus.

   Returning to the broom closet and pushing a mop out of the way, I turned a

   bucket upside down and sat for a moment. I couldn't wait until we got to that

   new office.

   SAC Jadzia was still behind closed doors with Skinner. SAC SaraZ was out of

   contact with a level four pathogen. SA Proxicom was in the vast tundra of

   Siberia, and Willmore & Keila were still en route to DC. I suddenly realized that

   to all intents and purposes, I was on my own for now.

   Pulling out the envelope, I started to sift through its contents. What I read there

   sobered me from the last percodan like a cold slap.

   The Orville Institute conducted medical tests on a variety of drugs, contracting

   work from nearly every major pharmaceutical company in the world.

   Apparently Dr Frohm was working on a new virus called 'Orion Cluster'. It was

   first discovered when an Iowa farm-hand, named Jacob Fletcher had fallen ill

   after collecting a rock in his corn-field. This was in 1995.

   The rock had been isolated and returned to a research lab, where it was

   identified as a meteorite. Jacob died within two weeks, the similarity to Ebola

   was noted, but without further samples or cases to study, the research was put

   on hold. Fletcher’s death was recorded as Hantavirus.

   However, an un-named govt agency began harvesting meteorites to find traces

   of the virus.

   it was found and test began on non human primates in 1998.

   The virus was named Orion Cluster because of its aggressive and predatory

   nature. Its effects were similar to Ebola, but because of the longer time-frame in

   which the victim was ill,

   it was more likely to spread before the suffers demise.

   Dr Frohm noted late last year that his studies were taking a more sinister turn.

   He was asked to begin conducting tests on anti-bodies. He notes that he was

   asked to perform tests on human 'volunteers'. He felt that many of these people

   were co-erced into the trials, some of them were prisoners from penitentiaries,

   others appeared to be illegal aliens.

   A couple of weeks ago Frohm felt he had developed an antibody to the virus.

   The virus would still cause serious illness, but with modern hospital care should

   recover fully. However, he felt that this antibody would be used to immunize only

   select portions of the population. In fact the lack of viral cells meant that there

   was never a chance to make a large amount of vaccine.

   Two days ago He overheard a conversation that led him to believe a vast

   conspiracy was at work, with plans to expose a large number of people to the

   virus and use them to harvest cells for the vaccine.

   He absconded from the centre with his work files, destroying copies of his

   research, and that's where I came in.

   He had given us the only vaccine left, and the means to make more.

   The reports I held in my hand were staggering. There would be grave and

   human consequences if this type of biological weapon was developed on a large

   scale.

   Where, I thought, were my fellow Agents?

   From: Morley Cigs (MORLEYCIGGS)

   Jan-22 2:10 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   brrrring

   Kiwiphile, alone in the broom closet, answers the phone. "Agent Kiwiphile

   speaking" Only static is heard. "Hello? Who's there?"

   "I believe you know who it is" I answer.

   "You"!

   "Listen carefully Agent Kiwiphile, for I will not give another warning. Your career

   has looked good until your assignment to the Y-Files, but that once promising

   career seems but a memory. You and the other agents can still save your

   careers by quitting this futile endeavor. I will not allow you or anyone else to

   interfere with our plans. I give this final warning to all of the Y-Files agents. Quit

   before it is too late."

   "Listen you son of a...", Agent kiwiphile says before she hears the click of the

   phone hanging up.

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-22 2:56 am

   To: Morley Cigs (MORLEYCIGGS)

   Agent Kiwiphile called me right after her threatening phone call from Morley Cigs.

   I was going to kick his arse. If only I knew where he lived. Or his phone number.

   Or his email addy. Dammit.

   I told Agent Kiwiphile that I would pick her up shortly so that we could go

   investigate the Orville institute.

   *OOC: It was my good friends 21st bday tonight and I have had a few too

   many... ugh. Let's just say the whole ordeal involved being in a jacuzzi

   completely clothed. I know, I know, how boring can I be. But I will be a sober

   participant when I get off work tomorrow, around 4AM EST time. I'll be happy to

   explain anything I've become involved in the meantime, if anything. Wow I

   think I almost spelled everything right in this post.

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-22 3:14 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   After that call from Morley Cigs, I tried SAC SaraZ's number again.

   *bringg*

   'SaraZ here'

   'It's Kiwiphile. look, I have a whole stack of information here, if you've finished

   with that corpse we should really meet and get a plan together.'

   'Sure, I'm just feeling a little....'

   There was a pause and I thought I heard the sounds of retching.

   'Are you OK?'

   'Yeah, I just can't get over the smell in here..., look, I'll clean up and meet you in

   two hours, we both need to sleep.

   We can head over to Orville late this afternoon. Like Jadzia said, we're best to

   get there when there are less staff around.'

   The sound of scuffling and a muffled cry. 'What's going on?

   'Nothing, I just have a bug phobia, its a long story. I'll see you later.'

   She was right, I decided to put in a little more time on my next case before

   getting some shut-eye myself. I had spent too long in this broom closet and I

   was starting to sound like a bad pulp fiction detective. At least there was no

   scotch in this office.

   ***********************************************************

   OOC: Ahhh, a social life, I remember having one of those. Drink plenty of water.

   :) Kiwiphile

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   Jan-22 3:14 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   OOC . . . I think that you somehow emailed me that message that didn't post.

   When I checked my email tonight, I had a message from you that was part of

   this thread. I was wondering why you would have emailed it to me directly.

   Mystery (one, at least) solved . . . :)

   Smiles,

   Jadzia :)

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-22 3:20 am

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   That is so weird, because I got a message notification about it, and not only is it

   the same number as your post, (I had e-mailed it to myself at the time I first

   posted it), but when I clicked on the link it took me to your post.

   I think that we must have sent them at EXACTLY the same moment......cue

   twilight zone sting....doo dee doo dee.

   :) kiwiphile.

   PS I am confused, what time is it where you are? It's Sunday am here, as in just

   after midnight, and I thought the dinner party thread would be going for it by

   now...or is it still Friday?

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   Jan-22 3:49 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Well, it's exactly 3:40AM on Saturday morning right now. Dang, I can't believe

   that you're almost a whole day ahead of us . . .

   Couldn't tell you what's going on with the dinner party thread since I haven't

   gotten to check up on it this evening/morning. I was also out and about this

   evening, and while my evening wasn't quite as exciting as Sara's, I have decided

   that I shouldn't follow a glass of merlot with a Long Island Iced Tea anymore. It

   makes your tummy feel ungood until you drink a lot of water.

   Okay, I was going to post another message for this thread tonight, but I'm too

   dang tired. I'll return tomorrow. Actually, I guess that's really just later today.

   :)

   Verging on incoherent,

   Jadzia :)

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-22 2:19 pm

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   Well, time differences settled, I wasn't about to let myself fall asleep without

   calling SA Willmore.

   Explaining that it was best to wait until nightfall before we visited the Orville

   Institute, he came up with a plan that was better than either mine or SAC

   SaraZ's

   'Why don't you two relax, SA Keila & I will be there soon with some take-out

   coffee, the good kind. Then we can head to the dinner party, and go to our

   stake-out late tonight. I did a little digging, and got hold of a security roster for

   the building-'

   I tried to cut him off

   '-no, don't ask me how I got it, and don't mention it to the big guy either. Lets

   just say I got one, and we pretty much can't in until 2am without being noticed.'

   'Well, at least we get to eat well and relax before we go. Willmore?'

   'Yeah?

   'I get the feeling that this little mission of ours could be dangerous, I've had

   some disturbing threats-'

   'Hey, don't worry, we'll all look out for each other. Just use your intuition.'

   'Thanks'

   'Oh and Kiwi?', he sounded stern, 'Wear your kevlar vest.'

   Hanging up, I felt a lot better. I checked to see if Jadzia was still in The Man's

   office, but I couldn't tell. Curling up in the corner, I went to sleep underneath

   Jadzia’s desk.

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-23 1:45 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   SA SaraZ reporting for duty... well rested and hangover free...

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-23 1:54 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   I arrived at the Orville Institute a few minutes early, and sat outside in my car

   waiting for SAs Kiwiphile, Willmore, and Kelia.

   To amuse myself and to help pass time, I sang along to the radio, loudly and

   horribly, keeping an eye out so that I could make sure I stopped before anyone

   else arrived and heard. One night a few agents and myself went bowling, and

   whoever lost had to sing karaoke. Of course, I lost. I had only been singing for

   about thirty seconds before the rest of them got so embarrassed for me they

   dragged me out of the building. It took me a long time to live that one down,

   and I didn't intend to start it back up again.

   I glanced at my watch, and realized time was either going by so slowly I couldn’t

   see the second hand move, or my watch stopped. Sighing, I dialed up Agent

   Kiwiphile on my cell phone. No answer. I tried Agent Willmore next, and there

   was no answer there either.

   "Hmm..." I said to myself. "I wonder what those two are up to..."

   I made a mental note that I would have to learn how to set the clock in my car. I

   hoped that I was in fact early, and not extraordinarily late. I drove around the

   building, making sure Agent Kiwiphile's car wasn't hidden away somewhere.

   Finding nothing, I returned to my spot and resumed singing.

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-23 3:09 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Willmore, Keila and I arrived in time to hear the warbling strains of some truly

   terrible music coming from SAC SaraZ's car. So much for keeping our presence on

   the QT.

   Making a mental note to never allow SaraZ near a karaoke bar, I went up and

   tapped on the window.

   'Step away from the vehicle!', SAC SaraZ was out of the car with her gun pulled

   in a flash. 'Oh. It's you guys. Sorry, that creepy morgue has made me all jumpy.'

   Holstering her gun she directed us all to the side entrance of the building. SAC

   Jadzia had been in the passenger seat, watching with amusement. She whipped

   out her cell-phone to make a call to AD Skinner. Apparently we had thirty

   minutes before a back-up team came in. At least THE MAN was actively involved

   on this one, probably thanks to that very long meeting with SAC Jadzia

   yesterday.

   The security was pretty tight, SaraZ had the warrant and a pretty good cover

   story of a medical nature. But there was no point in going through the front

   doors.

   Using Dr Frohm's security card, we found ourselves in an eerily quiet and dimly lit

   corridor. The pristine floor swept ahead of us, doors lining each side.

   Strolling down quietly we found the stairwell.

   The directory on the wall indicated that all the research labs were in the below

   ground levels, so we headed down.

   After searching through several floors of medical supply rooms, linen closets, and

   autopsy rooms. We found a floor that looked had nothing but perpex walled

   cells running down each side. Already silent, our group became grim-faced. Each

   and every room had an occupant. Each and every occupant seemed to be

   suffering from some kind of illness. With some disquiet, we identified many of

   them as non English speaking people.

   'My God,' said Willmore, 'It looks like they've been harvesting test-subjects from

   every refugee camp in the country.'

   As we were looking for a nurses station, or some similar central area where we

   might find information, we split up.

   I turned a corridor corner and heard the sound we had all been dreading:

   footsteps, and they were approaching fast.

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

 Jan-23 3:19 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   I pulled up to the right of SAC Sara's car and noticed that she was rockin' out to

   the radio. Suppressing a laugh, I got out, went around to her side of the car and

   gently tapped on the window. Sara almost jumped out of her skin and had her

   gun halfway drawn before she realized who it was. I was rewarded with a

   Sara-glower as she rolled down her window.

   "Is bowling night tomorrow?" I deadpanned.

   "Not funny, Jadz". I wasn't sure if Sara meant the bowling comment, or my

   startling her half to death. Probably both.

   "Are Kiwiphile, Keila & Willmore here yet?"

   "Nope. Make yourself comfy".

   "Well, we've got the warrant, so we don't have to slink around. I do want to

   wait for them to get here, though. With everything that's gone down with this

   case, we should have as much backup as possible. Skinner told me to call him

   before we enter the facility. If one of us doesn't contact him within 30 minutes of

   that phone call, he said something about sending in 'a s**tload of back-up with

   enough firepower to start a small war'. And that's a direct quote. I don't think

   our AD takes well to people shooting up his agents".

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   Jan-23 4:14 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   OOC . . . how odd. I didn't see your message before I posted mine, but our

   storylines mesh together quite well. Great minds thinking alike again? :)

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-23 1:24 pm

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   OOC: The muse is out there

   :)

   kiwiphile

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-23 8:44 pm

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   Taking no time to think, I quickly ducked back down the way I had come and

   looked around for the others.

   No sign of them. I looked for a place to hide. Spotting a hospital trolley, I tucked

   myself underneath it on the bottom shelf, pulling the sheet down on either side.

   It was uncomfortable at best, and disconcertingly like a casket. Trying not to

   think about it, I waited for signs of our foe.

   If only I could call SAC Jadzia or SaraZ. But a cell-phone ringing would only alert

   the guards to our presence. I switched my own 'phone to silent call and

   hunkered down.

   In moments the party had arrived. From what I could see underneath the sheet,

   there were five people. Two definitely of the black fatigue, probably armed

   variety; judging by the highly glossed boots with trousers tucked neatly in.

   One female, sensible shoes, white coat- my guess was a doctor. Another male

   doctor, and the fifth a dark twill suit.

   The suit spoke first. 'You have the samples ready for injection?' The voice was

   low, calm, sinister. It set off bells a ringing....

   'Yes sir,' it was the female medic, 'we're right on schedule'.

   'Then what are you waiting for, lets not keep the good people waiting.' That

   voice! I'd heard it before dammit, but the sheet was muffling the sound too much

   for me to hear clearly.

   'Grab the trolley Dr Jacobs, we may have to sedate some of them and take them

   to the lab on it.'

   Trolley!? There was only one trolley in this damned corridor and I was on it. Sure

   enough, a pair of brogued feet appeared by my head and started to swing the

   trolley out. I gripped the bottom of the shelf, hoping they wouldn't remove the

   sheet. I didn't think I could talk my way out of this one, federal warrant or not.

   The suited man began to head down the corridor with the grunts. Jacobs paused

   for a moment as they did.

   'Excuse me sir?'

   Suit legs stopped in their tracks. 'Yes?'

   'I'm afraid you can't smoke down here, the alarms are very sensitive.'

   I watched in horror as a well polished shoe stubbed out a newly lit cigarette on

   the linoleum. I did know that voice after all, it was-

   Suddenly there was a loud bang from the far end of the corridor. All five people

   took off towards the sound, and I scrambled off the trolley and headed down

   the side corridor. I paused, holding my breath. Whoever had made that noise

   had better be getting out of the open, because I clearly heard the sound of

   automatic weapons being readied for firing....

   From: Morley Cigs (MORLEYCIGGS)

   Jan-23 10:33 pm

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   BANG

   "What was that?" I asked, lighting up a new cigarette. "I don't know sir" the

   guard responded.

   "Well check it out. Bring another armed guard with you."

   The guards gave a "yes sir!" and headed towards the noise.

   "What about the injections?" asked Dr. Jacobs

   "Wait until we find out what is going on out there. It may become necessary to

   eliminate the test subjects."

   Dr. Jacobs seemed confused. "But what about all our work? You can't just..."

   "I can do what I feel is necessary in order for the project to survive. Do not

   question my authority, Dr. Jacobs." I gave the good doctor a glance that had

   assured her obedience. "Lets make our way to the command center and see

   what the disturbance is"...

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-23 11:52 pm

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   "Son of a..." I whispered after I knocked over several medical instruments in the

   closet SAC Jadzia and I had hid in after seeing men in fatigue with big guns

   around the corner.

   "Great..." Jadzia mumbled. "Just...great." She shook her head, clearly annoyed,

   but amused enough at the sight of the bedpan that had landed on my head not

   to strangle me outright.

   I grabbed her wrist, opened the door and quickly ran across the hall into

   another room. The sounds of footsteps running were approaching quickly, but

   luckily they hadn't yet rounded the corner.

   I opened the door across the hall and shut it quietly behind us. "Hide." I said.

   We still had the warrant, but at this point any sudden movements could get us

   shot. Not to mention tossed out, especially if the military claimed national

   security was at risk. I still have no idea how that excuse always works.

   Then I turned around, noticing that it was rather chilly. And there were many

   drawers. Big enough for a person to fit inside. I opened one, and shut it as I

   saw two feet, one with a toe tag.

   "Great." Jadzia said again. "Just great."

   I think she was going to kill me this time.

   There were several empty drawers, but I kind of would rather be shot by several

   automatic weapons than crawl inside one. I looked up at Jadzia in panic. It was

   looking like I didn't have to worry about automatic weapons or stuffing myself

   inside a morgue drawer, as Agent Jadzia glared at me....

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-24 12:14 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   I spotted an office across the hallway from me, whipping out Dr Frohm's security

   pass I ran it through the slide and felt relief as the door key light turned green.

   Opening it, I realized that this was some kind of isolation lab. Two rooms,

   separated by heavy duty glass, the inner one filled up with one of those

   inspection boxes that let you examine something on the outside while your

   hands are in giant gloves.

   I glanced at my watch, 27 minutes had passed since we entered the building.

   We had three minutes until Skinner called in the back-up, so that gave us about

   20 minutes in which to stay alive until help came.

   What to do, what to do. Suddenly I had an idea, it was kind of Hollywood, but it

   may just do the trick. With Morley Ciggs around, things were pretty desperate.

   That man would hunt us down like the terminator. And no doubt video our slow

   and painful deaths for his next home movie session.

   Entering the sealed lab, I switched on the main power. Looking around I quickly

   saw what I was looking for. A big, red button behind a glass case. I hoped that

   this was some kind of alarm in case of a quarantine breach. I remembered

   reading in the security file that Willmore had acquired that the Institute sealed up

   and floors became isolated, accessible only from the outside. I broke the glass

   and pushed the button.

   Immediately an alarm sounded and the lights dimmed to emergency levels. It

   was like being on the Starship Enterprise when it went to red alert. Pulling out

   my gun and heading back out into the corridor, I decided to try and find the

   others.

   This was hopeless, I had no idea which way to go. Then, in my pocket, I felt a

   small familiar shape. My dog whistle! Hoping that SA Keila would hear the high

   pitched sound over the whooping of the alarm, I gave it a hefty blow.

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   Jan-24 3:13 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   OOC . . . I wrote a post last night for this thread but it doesn't seem to have

   posted . . . *sob, sob*. All of that creative energy, wasted. But that's okay, I'll

   move on. And oddly enough, my post also featured a medical closet . . . Stepping

   back into character now . . .

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-24 7:06 am

   To: Morley Cigs (MORLEYCIGGS)

   Totally OOC:

   hahahahahahaha....arrrghhhh! (sounds of hysterical laughter, followed by

   frenzied panic)

   You are the best villain! I get SO excited when I see a post from you. I wish you

   had an evil sidekick, but not a lot. :D

   kiwiphile

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   Jan-24 7:06 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   <We're in a morgue. I HATE morgues the way that Indiana Jones hates snakes.

   Well, at least if they catch us, they won't have to move our bodies very far> I

   thought. I glared at Sara for a moment before whipping out my pocket flashlight

   and doing a quick scan of the room. It was darker than sin in here and we

   needed a way out, or at least a place to hide that wasn't cold storage.

   In the back corner of the room, almost hidden by the gurney in front of it, I could

   see a door. Sara and I looked at each other, and she nodded. I clicked off my

   flashlight and we headed to the back of the room. We moved the gurney (which

   was occupied by a lovely cadaver, I might add) out of the way and tried the door

   -- locked. Out came the FBI standard issue lockpick gun.

   "Thank God for the Welcome Wagon package," Sara said, as I finished picking

   the lock and opening the door. It was a tall closet, with large bookshelves along

   each of the walls. Sara and I slid in, closing and locking the door behind us. Sara

   brought out her flashlight, examining the bookshelves around us.

   "It looks like these are all patient charts," she said, pulling one down. I grabbed

   a chart too, and settled down for a quick skim-through. It looked like my time

   working at a doctor's office was finally going to come in handy. With armed

   goons crawling all over this facility hunting us down, it seemed like the best

   strategy was to lay low for awhile. If nothing else, Skinner would be sending out

   the back-up units in about five minutes.

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-24 7:07 am

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   OOC: Man, your and kiwiphile's posts are always disappearing... do I smell

   another Y-File? A vast, delphi conspiracy to conceal the truth??

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   Jan-24 4:45 pm

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   OOC . . . it's a plot, I tell you! It's a C-O-N-Spiracy! Sorry, just channeling "In

   Living Color" for a moment . . . :)

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-24 6:56 pm

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   OOC:

   Oh. My. God.

   I just wrote the longest, most detailed post and when I tried to post it I got an

   error message and the whole thing disappeared. It really is a conspiracy.

   *sigh* Okay, I'll try again. But now I'm impatient cuz I just spent half an hour on

   the other one and I will probably wind up leaving all kinds of stuff out. GRR.

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-24 7:01 pm

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   "Oh my god..." I murmured, as I looked over the patient records.

   "What? What is it?" Agent Jadzia asked, her eyes wide and eyebrows raised. At

   least she wasn't giving me looks of death anymore. For a few seconds there, I

   thought she was going to shove me into one of the cold storage drawers.

   "Hold on.." I said, getting out my cell phone. I dialed the lab, and was surprised

   when Jimmy picked up before the first ring.

   "Agent Zeuty?" He asked.

   "How did you know it was me?"

   "I've been trying to call you for the last half hour. You weren't picking up."

   "Yeah, we were in kind of a tight spot there for a second. Actually we still are.

   Anyway. Did you finish the analysis?"

   "Well, a prelim, anyway. I don't think we could analyze this fully if we had years."

   I looked around at all the patient records. Apparently, someone was trying.

   "So, what did you find?" I asked.

   "You're not going to believe this..."

   (Continued in next post so I don't LOSE IT ALL again!)

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Jan-24 7:18 pm

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   "What? What is it?" I said, echoing Jadzia's previous words.

   "It's like nothing I've ever seen."

   "Would you just tell me, already?" I demanded, impatiently.

   "Okay. Well, it's not just as simple as Ebola on steroids. In some ways it

   behaves like a virus, but it's more than that. It's much more complex. Upon first

   observation, it looked like a bunch of more or less harmless little virus like

   organisms, not doing anything. Until we introduced organic material."

   "What? What kind of organic material? Why would you do that?"

   "Well it was an accident. Stray hair. Anyway... It systematically broke it down on

   a molecular level, more or less devouring it."

   "Well by the condition of Vlad's "body," I could have told you that."

   "Of course. But keep in mind, on a molecular level. Then it reconstructed itself

   out of the little puddle of molecules. Reproducing itself."

   I nodded. "So it's some sort of advanced organism."

   "Even more than that. When it finished with the hair, it tried to escape the petrie

   dish."

   "It tried to escape? How?" I said, incredulously.

   "Well each single organism seems to possess the ability to differentiate itself,

   and come together with others, forming an entirely new being. And I am

   speculating that it has some sort of internal memory, because it seems to be

   able to form other organisms that it has devoured. I say this because I believe it

   to be extraterrestrial in origin, and it has the ability to form organisms found on

   earth."

   "So it could...form a human?"

   "Theoretically. If I'm right. However, the more complex the organism, the longer

   it would take. For it to form a human being, it could take anywhere between

   weeks and months. "

   "Oh my god..." I whispered.

   "Also, when there is no organic material for it to...digest, it seems to lie dormant.

   When there is no way for it to get energy, it doesn't just die. Of course we've

   only been able to observe it for a short time, so that is at least partially

   speculative. The only way we've found to kill it is by burning. One another thing.

   It leaves no material waste products."

   "What? How is that possible?"

   "I don't know. It's like it just turns matter into pure energy. Completely efficient."

   "Thanks Jimmy. I'll be in touch."

   I hung up the phone, and looked at Agent Jadzia who was staring impatiently at

   me. I told her what I had found out.

   "This brings something entirely new into the mix." I said. "This could be a

   weapon, a research project, or something they're trying to learn from."

   "Or all of the above." Agent Jadzia said. "Or maybe they don't even know

   themselves."

   "There's only one thing to do. We have to find their research. There's nothing

   here but patient records, charts... we have the end result, but not the reason

   why."

   I just hoped our backup would arrive soon, and that Agent Kiwiphile, Kelia and

   Willmore were alright.

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   Jan-24 9:28 pm

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   I waited for what seemed like minutes after blowing the dog whistle, but it was

   really only a few seconds.

   To my relief, Keila rounded the corner to my left quietly. She looked upset, her

   eyes were big and dilated. Leaning forward to give her a pat I waited for

   Willmore. At the same moment I concluded he wasn't with her, I noticed

   something sticky around Keila's muzzle. I lifted my hand up to eye-level.

   Blood.

   Checking Keila quickly, I concluded that either she had bitten one of the enemy

   or the blood was Willmore's.

   Time to see if my Lassie could lead me to little Timmy.

   'Keila? Where’s Craig?'

   She cocked her head and looked at me. Darn, she could retrieve sticks and

   rubber ducks, time to move on to people.

   I held the blood under her nose, 'Fetch!'

   She headed back in the direction she had arrived. I followed her, keeping low in

   case the glass windowed doors to either side were rooms that were occupied.

   She lead me to an air vent duct. Standing in front of it she pushed a paw up on

   it, whimpering softly. I saw that the grill was loosely held in. Before she could

   pull it off, I removed it quietly and took out my flashlight.

   There was a damp trail of blood leading down the duct. I had to follow this

   through, If Willmore was injured he could be unconscious, or worse, somewhere

   down that small, dark scary looking tunnel.

   Putting away my gun and lifting Keila into the shaft, I climbed in backwards.

   Placing the grill back, I realized that I would have to slide backwards until I

   reached a cross-roads in the vent shafts.

   Edging my way awkwardly with my torch in my mouth, I tried to control my rising

   sense of claustrophobia. How I hate small enclosed spaces! Especially dark ones

   that are lined with blood.

   I mentally reckoned the time that had passed....If Skinner was true to his word,

   the back-up should be here shortly. Five Agents came in here, I was dammed if

   I was going to accept any less coming out alive and well.

   SA Kiwiphile

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   1:54 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   I finally reached a cross-section in the ducting, and managed to work my way

   around so that I could crawl forwards instead of back. The exertion was making

   me sweat, and I was so nervous my heart beat was a loud persistent thump in

   my throat. Trying to slow down and deepen my breathing, I looked left.

   A shot of adrenalin pulsed through my body as I recognized a pair of black

   fatigues ending in shiny leather boots. I froze, pointless really since I could

   hardly run, or draw my gun for that matter. But SA Keila wasn't concerned.

   Prodding the legs with my torch, I assumed that this was one point for our side.

   Faintly, over the thrum of the air conditioning, I heard a moan. SA Keila started

   to wriggle and thump her way over the dead guy towards the sound. Pulling her

   back, I craned my neck to get a better view.

   'Willmore?,' my whisper sounded hollow and sharp in the metal tunnel, 'is that

   you?'

   A familiar hand waved at me. Grabbing the dead guard, I started trying to pull

   him out of the way. I got first-hand the meaning of dead-weight. This would take

   all night. Luckily SA Keila got the idea, and started to tug on his boots. Between

   the two of us, we managed to shift him past the cross-section enough to get

   around.

   Willmore was slumped face-down ahead of me. I crawled towards him, then had

   to lie down myself to recover. Strange what you do in these situations. In other

   circumstances, lying three inches away from Willmore would be quite the treat.

   But facing opposite directions, our faces squashed into the metal floor, we had a

   conversation while lying there like beached whales. I suppressed a desire to

   giggle, if I started I might not be able to stop.

   Willmore had a shiner the size of a grapefruit over his right eye.

   'You should see the other guy,' he joked, catching his breath as he did. 'Ow, I

   think I opened that gunshot wound from Dawson's Creek.'

   I thought of the blood in the vent. 'God, should it be bleeding so much?' This

   was bad, by the amount of blood I saw, Willmore should be in shock and

   checking out any minute.

   'No, most of that is his,' he nodded towards the corpse. 'But I must have fainted,

   I can't remember much after stabbing him.

   'Stabbing him? Is a knife part of your standard armaments? Do you know what

   kind of paperwork I'll have to do?'

   He grinned at my imitation of an SAC. 'No, I had to use the PLAM! I swear I shot

   him several times, he just kept coming towards me like the terminator. Keila

   slowed him down a little, but its so cramped in here. Then we were wrestling in

   here, and I felt it in my pocket, and well; I improvised.'

   'Well, we can't loll about here all day Agent, we've got to find the others and

   secure this place before they kill those people.'

   Gritting his teeth, he shifted his weight and followed Keila and I back to the grill.

   Now all we had to do was elude Morley and his goons, find our SAC's, and

   rescue the test-subjects. Easy.....

From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   2:25 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   "What the hell IS that?" I asked, looking up. There were terrible creaking noises

   coming from the air vent on the wall above us. Then they got quieter and faded

   away.

   Jadzia shook her head. "I don't know... rats? Gigantic mutant rats?"

   Very well could have been. A few moments later, the noises returned, doubly

   loud, and again faded away.

   "Those are people. And... a dog?" Jadzia said.

   My eyes lit up.

   "Oh no." Agent Jadzia said, knowing what I was thinking.

   "Hey, my claustrophobia is worse than yours. Besides, I don't see any better

   way out of here. There will probably be guards searching through here any

   moment."

   Jadzia gave me the death stare again. "Well... at least it's not refrigerated." I

   said.

   "Fine. Let's go."

   Jadzia gave me a boost, me being too short to climb in even with the aid of

   standing on a shelf, and she followed after me. As soon as I was inside I had to

   start pushing down my panic as far as it would go. I hated small spaces. But as

   long as I kept moving...

   "There's blood." Jadzia said. "Let's follow the trail..."

   Eventually the blood trail ran out, and shortly afterward we came to an vent with

   no grate. I scooched up and looked straight into the face of a gun. Luckily it was

   Agent Kiwiphile's gun.

   "Ugh." I said. "It's us." Kiwiphile grinned and helped both of us out. "Us agents

   really should stop pointing weapons at each other."

   Now, we were right back where we started.

   "Who exactly called for reinforcements? And why exactly aren't they here yet?" I

   asked, mildly irritated.

   "I don't think we can just sit here waiting." Agent Jadzia said. "We need to find

   out what this whole project is about." She filled in Kiwi and Willmore about what

   we had discovered so far....

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   2:52 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   OOC . . . I'm at the point that, if I write a really long, detailed post, I'll highlight

   and copy it just in case Delphi decides to go all wacko on me. My condolences on

   the death of your post . . .

   From: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   3:52 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   OOC: Well here goes again, the whole of the US must be awake and net

   hopping....grrr.)

   SAC Jadzia briefed us as SaraZ tried the doors around us. She was pretty fed-up

   with the whole alarm thing, something about a residual hangover....

   Anyway, suffice to say she wasn't impressed when I told her it was me that had

   set it off.

   SAC Jadzia took control, Willmore was looking shaky and we really were out of

   time.

   'Agents, lets hustle butt and get those civilians out of here. We'll need to lead

   them up through the air vents to the outside of the building. Willmore, look on

   those plans of yours and decide on a route.'

   It had the desired effect. Even Keila looked attentive.

   We returned to the cell-clock corridor, and SaraZ used her compact mirror to

   check around the corner.

   'Those two doctors, looks like they're preparing injections of some kind.', she

   looked at me, 'Kiwi, you take the guy, I'll take her and Jadzia & Willmore can

   open the cells with their lock picks. Do you think Keila can create a diversion?'

   I nodded and signaled them to wait while I pulled my lucky eight-ball charm off

   my key-ring. Showing it to Keila, I threw it around the corner and Keila took off

   full-tilt, her claws skittering on the hard floors.

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   3:56 am

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   OOC: I just came to that exact same conclusion.

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   4:01 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   OOC . . . I'm soo about to hurt Delphi. By the time the server wasn't busy and

   deigned to post my message, we were at another point in the story . . . here

   goes the revised version <steps back into character>:

   As Keila charged around the corner, startling the bejesus out of the doctors, the

   cavalry arrived. We could hear the sound of agents breaking down doors and

   the reassuring cries of, "FEDERAL AGENTS!" I could pick out one commanding

   voice in all of the ruckus.

   "Where the hell are they? We have FIVE agents somewhere on these premises.

   I want them located NOW!" AD Skinner's voice brooked no dispute.

   In a panic, the doctors made a move to run. Two shots rang out from across the

   room, and the doctors both fell to the floor -- each shot through the heart.

   Looking over, we saw Morley Ciggs and one of his goons. Just then, the door

   came crashing down behind us. We looked behind us to see a dozen FBI agents

   charging through the door, including The Man. When I looked back over to the

   corner where Morley had been standing, he was already gone.

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   4:19 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   It was unfortunate that Agent Kiwiphile had already thrown her 8-ball before

   Jadzia could tell her the civilians were already dead.

   This was definitely turning out to be one of the more frustrating nights.

   Suddenly I heard our reinforcements arrive. Shots were fired. One of the armed

   guards fell to the floor after Agent Jadzia shot him when he tried to take out

   Skinner. I ran over to him, removing his gun. For some reason I stopped to look

   at his dogtags. His name was John Delphi. It was the oddest thing, usually the

   sight of someone wounded saddens me. But somehow I knew that this man

   was pure evil...

   I gave the dead man a good swift kick in his side before I turned back to my

   fellow agents...

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   4:20 am

   To: kiwiphile (IMALONE)

   "Sir, we need to clear these civilians out ASAP," I informed Skinner. I doubted

   there was any hope for their survival after the nature of the tests that they had

   been subjected to, but we had to try. "I recommended that we get a biohazard

   team in here to handle them". Skinner nodded at the agent nearest him, and

   that agent radioed over to the biohazard team that was evidently on stand-by

   outside.

   "Sir, we also need to secure the files and records in this facility. The information

   in them is vital". My voice was urgent.

   "What the hell is going on here, Agent?" Skinner growled at me. This wasn't the

   time to be intimidated, so I gave him a quick summary of what we suspected . . .

   * * * * * * * *

   " . . . so basically, they've either found or created a virus that devours organic

   material and then acts like a friggin' Odo Changeling from DS9," I finished. The

   irony of the Star Trek reference was not lost on me. "And, what's more, I'm

   pretty sure that all of the patients who's charts were in that closet . . ." Skinner

   and my fellow agents looked at me, and SA Keila woofed quietly. I hadn't

   mentioned this detail before.

   "Well, I'm pretty sure that they're all dead".

   "What!?!" Kiwiphile exclaimed. From behind me, I pulled out the chart that I had

   tucked into my waistband and flipped it open. Around us, agents quickly and

   efficiently secured the facility.

   "These are post-mortem examination reports and lab results. They're the last

   additions made to these patients' charts, so they're always on top. I flipped

   though some other charts while we were in there, and all of them had the same

   reports," I said grimly. Between what we had learned about this virus, being

   chased by armed goons, getting stuck in a morgue and crawling though some

   very narrow ventilation shafts, I was _not_ in a sunshiny mood.

   "There were at least a thousand charts in there," Sara said, not at all happy

   with the implications.

   "Uh-huh. And if we can secure those files, I'll be very curious to see how many of

   those people are listed as deceased in official records, and how many are

   supposedly healthy, happy and very much alive".

   "Oh sh*t," Kiwiphile said. "Aside from the hybrids, what better way to create an

   army that can hide in plain sight?"

   "Great, isn't it?" I needed to reign in my bad temper, but these Syndicate guys

   really ticked me off.

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   4:20 am

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   OOC: Okay. That's it. I give for the night. How this board can be so "busy" at

   7am is beyond me.

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   4:25 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Majorly OOC . . . ROFLMAO!!! Thanks for letting me take out Delphi. I feel so

   much better now! It's hard b/c all three of us are online at the same time. I keep

   going back and editing my messages to make the storyline work . . . :)

   Thanks again Sara! "But somehow I knew the man was pure evil . . ." That is

   just classic!

   LOL,

   Jadzia :)

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   4:27 am

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   OOC: Okay, one more post. *grins sheepishly* but a small one.

   After we explained everything to Skinner, I looked back at the spot where Morley

   had been standing just a few moments before. My eyes narrowed. "God dammit,

   I'm going to find that SOB..."

   "Leave it." Jadzia barked, sounding like Agent Skinner. "He has too many...

   dammit get back here agent! That's an order!"

   I had already taken off in pursuit, my gun drawn. *This* time he was going

   down and he was going to answer for what he had done. He was at least going

   to give me a reason why. And it had better be worth my defying my superiors

   and the arse-chewing I knew was in store for me. Assuming I lived, of course...

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   4:29 am

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   OOC: hehe, glad you enjoyed. I think I'm going to go edit that post and add

   something. I'm still not appeased...

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   4:33 am

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   OOC: Wait a minute, that post is different. Now *I* screwed up the story line.

   AAurgh. Okay I'm really going to bed now. I am so confused. I'll pick up

   tomorrow. Then I'm going to hunt down the rest of John Delphi's family and kill

   them too. *sigh*

   From: Jadzia (JADZIA00)

   4:34 am

   To: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   Maybe he's not dead yet, and you have to shoot him again, a la Scream?

   From: Sara Kathryn Zeuty (SARAZ)

   4:36 am

   To: Jadzia (JADZIA00)