Title: Annelid (1/1) Author: aka "Jake" Rating: R (R for Language and Violence) Classification: X (X-File) Spoilers: Vague references through Season 7 Summary: "Like a gold nugget in a prospector's pan, the case landed serendipitously on my desk. An X-File to rival the Loch Ness Monster, El Chupacabra or even Bigfoot. And of course, I was thrilled at the possibility of traveling to a far off place in search of a never-before-seen creature." -- Fox Mulder in "Annelid" Disclaimer: The characters Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are the property of Chris Carter, FOX and 1013 Productions. No copyright infringement intended. This is for fun, not profit. ANNELID By aka "Jake" __________ Somewhere west of Stevens Village, Alaska 12:54 PM Damn, it's cold. I look back at Scully. She's trailing me by fifty yards at least, her head down, trying to avoid being sandblasted...er, snow-blasted. She's watching her feet, careful not to stray from the disappearing tracks of my snowshoes. An ice-spewing blizzard keeps me scraping the snow from my goggles. I can barely see Scully as she trudges after me. The blowing snow causes her to fade in and out of my view like some kind of an arctic mothman. Of course, I feel plenty guilty for leading her out here. And what brought us to Alaska in the first place? What mythical beast has me and my partner risking our lives? A snow worm. That's right, a snow worm. Well, that's what the shift leader at Pump Station 6 called the unlikely vermiform when he phoned the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company's headquarters in Fairbanks two weeks ago. It was big, he said. Twenty feet long. And white. Fur-covered. Not your average annelid. He also insisted the thing ate three sled dogs. He claimed it plowed up out of the snow and swallowed the dogs whole, one at a time. Needless to say, he and the other three crewmen were getting a tad nervous. They wanted APSC to send a relief crew. Or even better, send some fat cat CEOs from corporate headquarters. Evidently the head honchos back at Fairbanks figured the station's operating crew was suffering from nothing more than a serious case of cabin fever. Two weeks on, two weeks off was the customary stint, but this crew had been on duty for close to five weeks. Why the long shift? Headquarters was arguing it was close to impossible to find qualified crewmen to work at the pumping station. After all, Station 6 is situated in one of the most remote locations along the Trans Alaska Pipeline. Not exactly a popular tour of duty. A couple of days after the disappearing dog act and the wild allegations of canine-craving worms, the crewmen quit answering their radiophone altogether. Alyeska finally became worried enough to send somebody out. The relief team found the original crewmen. What was left of them anyway -- several piles of bones in various locations around the grounds outside the facility. Malamute skeletons, too. The Alyeska Pipeline Service Company reeeeally gets peeved when its employees are reduced to little more than a few neat stacks of tibias and femurs. And not just because the workman's comp claims are a bitch. APSC has enough environmental zealot watchdogs sabotaging their property to take the possibility of murder very seriously. And no one at headquarters was buying the wild worm story. Well, at least not until the relief team disappeared, too. Suddenly the tale of the hungry snow worm didn't seem so far-fetched. The possibility, remote or not, of a killer annelid certainly put the kybosh on any volunteers from Fairbanks making a trip out to Station 6 to uncover the truth. In order to gain a little outside support, Alyeska told the FBI they suspected terrorist activity. They maintained that any threat to the Trans Alaska Pipeline was a threat to the security of the nation's largest domestic oil resource. Of course, the interstate commerce card was the ace up their corporate sleeve and they weren't opposed to playing it as well. Gaining the Bureau's assured cooperation, APSC finally brought to light the previously unmentioned snow worm thing. That's when the case rapidly sunk to the basement of the Hoover Building. Like a gold nugget in a prospector's pan, it landed serendipitously on my desk. An X-File to rival the Loch Ness Monster, El Chupacabra or even Bigfoot. And of course, I was thrilled at the possibility of traveling to a far off place in search of a never-before-seen creature. Okay, technically the elusive snow monster had been seen by several Alyeska employees. But since none of them had survived to tell the tale, an aura of mystery still surrounded the unlikely beast. Scully, however, wasn't quite so delighted with the idea of exploring -- how did she put it -- the mass hysteria and hallucinatory ravings of several severe isolation distress sufferers? It's a well-documented fact that Scully and legendary beasts have about as much chance of mixing as me and AD Kersh at the next Bureau cotillion. Scully also suspected I was confusing Alyeska's snow worm with the Arctic Ice Core Project we investigated almost six years ago. After being infected by two-million-year-old worm-like parasites, an entire research team at Icy Cape had gone mad and killed each other. "Mulder, you're not talking about acetlycholine-eating worms, are you?" Scully had asked, one accusatory eyebrow arching with critical confidence. "Those worms lived in the ice, Scully. And they were tiny," I reminded her. "The Alyeska worms live in the snow and are large. They eat dogs. And people." "Not the chemical secretions of the hypothalamus?" "No. They don't care much for bones either." "Hmm." So we found ourselves back in Alaska pursuing a somewhat different type of worm. I shiver as a bone-chilling gust carries a pall of snow from me to Scully. She momentarily disappears in the swirling gale. I wait and try to catch a glimpse of her closing the gap between us. It's a relief to turn my back to the wind. Facing Scully, my cheeks get a break from the unrelenting sting of razor-sharp sleet. Shit, my face feels like I shaved with a Cuisinart. Then slapped on a little lemon juice skin bracer for added zing. As always, however, the sight of Scully lessens the painful reality of my life. Before we left DC, did I actually tell Scully a mid-winter trip to the great white north would be refreshing? Well, minus 27 degrees F is F-ing cold when you toss in wind gusts upwards of 40 knots, giving you an invigorating wind-chill of...of...well, you do the math. My brain turned into a Slurpee at least four miles back. Oh, Scully. You look so cold. "How're you doing?" "Fine, Mulder." She marches past me. "You need to rest?" I catch up and drape my arm across her shoulders, only adding to the burden she already carries without complaint on her back. "No. We're almost there. Aren't we?" Her blue eyes look worried behind her snow-covered goggles. Frost coats her facemask. "Maybe another mile. Two at most," I lie. Stevens Village is at least ten miles to the east. "You're getting frostbite, Mulder." She pauses to tug the scarf that covers my mouth and nose higher up over my cheeks. "Ouch!" I push her hand away. My angel of mercy. Inwardly, I thank whoever's listening that Scully is here with me. Here. Somewhere close to the sixty-sixth parallel. We've been heading east along the frozen Yukon River for nearly two hours. And how exactly did we get here? As usual, an unpredictable chain of events pushed us along, until we ended up in a cold, vast wilderness...without transportation. A familiar scenario, although this time no aliens are involved and we're on the top of the planet, not the bottom. Without a plethora of options, we're on foot. On snowshoes, actually. A mind and body numbing reality necessitated by the fact that we lost the Artic Cat we were riding. Well, not 'lost' inthe 'missing' sense, but-- Maybe I should back up a bit, start over at the beginning...which was the day before yesterday. __________ Pump Station 6 Trans Alaska Pipeline Two Days Earlier "Hello? Hello?" Scully calls into the deserted pump station. She sets her duffle bag on the floor. "It's warm in here." Bob Guifford, Stanley Philp, Will Connelly, and I follow Scully into the station, stomping snow from our boots and depositing our gear next to hers. "Power's always on in the pump stations," Guifford tells us. He's ASPC's Director of Safety and Security. And our pilot. A huge man -- six-six, at least, and two hundred and fifty plus pounds -- he's an imposing but likeable guy. And he's as comfortable in the captain's seat of a Cessna 206 as a Knicks' fan with a six-pack reclining in a LazyBoy on a Sunday afternoon wearing nothing but his underwear. Take it from one who knows. Stanley Philp on the other hand is an acerbic insurance investigator, here to disprove the validity of Alyeska's claims. He has the personality of a bull terrier. With his teeth sunk into the pant leg of ASPC, the rat dog has every intention of pulling the corporate giant down. In the few hours since we met him, he's managed to hit on Scully at least half a dozen times. Which irritates the hell out of me. He's making me work hard to hide my jealousy when I'd prefer to simply punch him right in the canines. Connelly, the youngest member of our group, is a fresh-faced zoology PhD candidate from UC Davis, specializing in annelids. I had requested a worm expert to accompany us to Alaska and he was more than eager to tag along. His enthusiasm to get a peek at the enigmatic snow worm actually outstrips mine. If that's possible. Abandoning our three companions at the station's front door, Scully and I immediately start a search of the building for the missing relief crew. Guifford checks on the communications equipment. While Scully investigates the rec room, I give the kitchen a quick sweep. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, I continue on to the bedrooms. Station 6 is no Motel 6, but the sleeping quarters appear comfortable enough. There are at least a couple dozen bedrooms, although only a few of the rooms appear to have been recently occupied. Scully and I meet up again in a gargantuan bathroom complete with communal showers. "Find anything?" Scully scowls at the line of showers, her fists on her hips. "Tonight's entertainment." I waggle my eyebrows at her. She ignores me, as usual, and resumes her survey of the station. I trail after her, following her into the office where Guifford is reporting back to headquarters over the radiophone. "All the network equipment is working fine," Guifford announces when he's finished checking in with HQ. "Seismic monitoring, remote gate valve status, in-plant radio, oil spill communications. No problems. Any sign of the crew?" he asks us. "Just their gear. Why are there so many bedrooms, by the way?" "All Alyeska's pump stations were built to house a crew of twenty-five, although the actual crew size may be as low as ten." "Why were only four men posted here?" "This station, along with Stations 2, 8 and 10, are on standby status. Have been since '97. Don't need more than a skeleton crew." "That's ironic," I can't help pointing out, remembering the crew's skeletonized remains. "Why post anybody here at all?" "To keep the place powered up. Each pump station generates its own electricity to run the pumps, the topping units, the refrigerated foundations." "Refrigerated foundations?" Scully asks. "Yeah. Keeps the permafrost solid. You don't want the earth melting and shifting underneath the station. The max daily throughput of crude oil is more than 2 bbl. A spill would be...undesirable, to say the least." "And what's a topping unit?" It's my turn to show we know nothing about pumping oil. "A mini-refinery to produce turbine fuel. As you saw from the air, this station is made up of a couple of dozen buildings and crude tanks. Let me show you a schematic on the computer." Guifford types at the keyboard and brings up a diagram of the station on his monitor. "We're right here." He taps on the screen, indicating the living quarters. "And over here are the main and booster pump buildings. The crude topping unit and heater are here. The generator building is here. And these are the crude relief tanks. The other structures are maintenance buildings, equipment storage, stuff like that. The snow plows and fire truck are housed here." "Fire truck?" Scully asks. "Yeah, each station has a trained fire response team. As you might imagine, a fire would be as disastrous as a spill." "Shouldn't we check all these buildings?" I ask. "See if we can find the missing crew?" "Absolutely. Any time you're ready, Agent Mulder." I'm about to zip my jacket when a rough sketch next to the computer catches my eye. As luck would have it, it turns out to be a sketch of a snow worm. The artist was no Di Vinci, but he managed to get his idea across just the same. Leonardo Wanna-be's worm is huge, if that little four-legged thing next to it is a dog. Damn, this mystery monster looks like something out of Dune...only hairier. "Is that supposed to be it?" Scully is at my elbow, peering past me at the sketch. "I think so." "It's big." "Hmm." "Is that a dog?" she points a finger at the little four-legged scribble. "If it is, your snow worm must be about fifty feet long." "That's impossible," Connelly chimes in. He and Philp have joined us in the office. "The largest annelids aren't more than three meters in length. And those live only at the bottom of the ocean." "This alleged snow worm is nothing more than a wild fairytale," Philp adds. "A figment of someone's overactive imagination." For some reason, he squints accusingly at me. "Fairytale or not, something's happened to eight men," Guifford points out. "How about we try to find out exactly what that is? We need to search this entire facility and the surrounding grounds...right now. I suggest we go in teams. Who's with me?" "I am," Connelly volunteers. He snags a camera out of his pack and drapes it around his neck. "You may want to bring a gun instead of that Nikon, son." Guifford nods at the camera. "We're not gonna shoot it...are we?" Connelly sounds incredulous. "It ate three dogs and at least four crewmen. It doesn't appear to be very friendly." "It may be hungry, but that doesn't mean we should kill it. Aren't we here to study it?" Connelly looks to me for support. I disappoint him with a shrug. "Well...shouldn't we at least try to capture it? Why exterminate something that doesn't exist anywhere else on earth?" "We don't know that it exists here," Philp asserts. "My primary concern is for the safety of all of you." Guifford rises to cross the room to a well-stocked gun cabinet. He unlocks it and removes a 30.06 Winchester rifle. Loading shells into the weapon, he scoops a handful of additional ammo into his coat pocket. "From what little we know, this creature is a threat." "I'm not going out there," Philp announces and settles into the desk chair recently vacated by Guifford. "Not until daylight." "You wait for daylight and you'll be waiting a long time." Guifford laughs. "The sun's not up more'n a couple of hours a day at this time of year. But suit yourself. Agents Scully and Mulder, why don't you check the pump buildings? Connelly and I will cover the topping units and the maintenance structures. Either of you need a rifle?" "No. We're fine." Scully indicates her sidearm and is the first to the door. __________ Pump Station 6 5:40 PM Stepping into the frigid outdoors is a bit of a shock. Not so much from the cold, but from the incredible light show that paints the night sky. The Aurora Borealis shimmers above our heads; its astonishing glow undulate across the heavens in unexpected shades of brilliant red. The color of Scully's hair. "I thought the Aurora was blue or green." Scully is staring skyward. A delightful look of wonder leaves her mouth hanging open as she tips her face up to the extraordinary display. Flickering across her pale skin, the Northern Lights' fiery hues bring a false blush to Scully's cheeks. Appearing breathless and flushed, she ignites an uninvited, aching conflagration in my groin. Completely inappropriate, but unstoppable, nonetheless. So sue me -- it happens occasionally. Okay, more than occasionally. So what? I swear if we were alone... Shit, who am I kidding? I'd probably just make some silly innuendo, followed by a leer, and she'd ignore me. Again. Not that I'd blame her. But even so, I can't help picturing-- "It is uncommon," Guifford's baritone cuts my fantasy short. Connelly is with him, staring up at the heavens, too. Guifford continues with his explanation. "Red auroras occur cyclically with an influx of electrons from larger than normal solar flares every eleven years or so. At a higher than normal altitude, the electrons lose their energy to oxygen atoms. The process produces light as pure as a laser and we see a red aurora." The science behind the phenomenon takes nothing away its beauty. The night sky is bewitching. As is my partner's lovely face. Have I mentioned that I'm in love with my partner? I am. She pretends she doesn't know it. Or maybe she has no interest in me that way. I'm not sure. Lately, I've been trying to find out -- a light touch here, a light touch there, a hospital bed confession, a New Year's kiss. I've gone way beyond jokes about china patterns and iced tea. Still, I'm clueless. My investigative skills inexplicably evaporate whenever I try to ferret out the truth of Scully's heart. And I guess I'm just too gutless to come right out and ask her how she feels about me. "The pump buildings are in that direction, Agents." Guifford ends my speculation when he points to a long, two-story structure dwarfing a smaller one on the west side of the facility. "The bigger building is the main pump. The smaller unit houses the booster pump. Meet you back at quarters, agents." Guifford directs Connelly around a satellite tower. The two men disappear from our view. "Got my back, Mulder?" "Always." Scully leads us to the main pump building. Our flashlights pan the surrounding area as we walk. The ground is flat and snow-covered, and it appears tinted pink by the glow of the aurora. There are no tracks but ours. When we reach the building's main entrance, we find the door has been left fully open. A snowdrift holds it in place. Scully aims her beam into the building. It does little to illuminate the dark interior. She cautiously reaches around the doorframe for a switch. When she finds it, banks of overhead lights blink to life, revealing the cavernous room. Not ten feet away sit two small piles of bones. Human bones. Scully crouches beside the nearest pile. While she inspects the bones, I keep my eyes on everything else. "This is weird, Mulder." I risk a quick glance at the skeleton. "Weird how?" "These bones look almost as if they've been...scoured. With a wire brush or steel wool. There are tiny abrasions in all the surfaces. Almost no flesh remains. No cartilaginous tissue, no tendons. You know what else?" "I couldn't begin to guess." "All the bones are here. I mean, this is a complete skeleton." "Can it be identified? Is it one of the crew?" "He was obviously male. Probably thirty to forty years of age. A good set of dental records should tell us the rest." "How do you think it...uh, got this way?" "I was hoping you had a theory, Mulder. Considering our remote location and the short amount of time for this to have occurred, well...I really couldn't say." Scully rises and crosses to the other skeleton. "These bones have the same odd scouring." "Scully, if these men were swallowed by some kind of giant worm, could the flesh have been digested and the bones regurgitated?" "What, like a snake? That would take weeks, Mulder. These men disappeared only a few days ago!" She picks up a long arm or leg or whatever bone and examines it closely under the direct beam of her flashlight. "That wouldn't explain these bizarre marks either." "What if the digestive system were in some way different than- -" Before I can finish my thought, a rifle fires from somewhere on the east side of the facility. Another blast quickly follows the first. Scully is immediately up and outside. I'm only one step behind her. We jog toward the east side of the station, past the living quarters, and under the satellite tower. Another shot rings out, its disorienting echo volleying from one exterior wall to the next. We slow when we reach what appears to be a maintenance garage. A large overhead door is wide open and light pours from the garage across the snowy ground. Guifford's and Connelly's tracks lead to the threshold. We ready our weapons and step inside. "Why did you kill it?" Connelly is yelling from somewhere behind a massive snowplow. Scully and I weave our way around the plow's giant blade to where Connelly is poised for a face off, toe-to-toe with the much bigger ASPC Security Chief. Guifford's hackles aren't up, however. He's murmuring a calm explanation to the sputtering young scientist. A fireman's ax dangles loosely from the big man's right hand. "It wasn't attacking us!" Connelly's face is red with anger. "What happened?" Scully asks. Guifford gestures with his ax at a large white worm, curled into two separated pieces on the garage floor. Liquid oozes from both halves, freezing into a puddle of milk-colored ice. One half of the worm bulges ominously with the contents of something approximately the size of a human being. "He killed it! For no reason!" Connelly sounds like a petulant child, railing at the unfairness of life. Scully ignores the young man and squats beside the severed ends of the worm. Removing her cold-weather gloves, she withdraws a pair of latex gloves from her parka and tugs them on. She plunges her fist into one sticky end of the amputated vermiform. "Damn!" she cries, sounding startled. Very carefully, she withdraws her hand from the creature's innards. When I see her fingers, I think I'm gonna puke. She's bleeding; her latex glove is shredded. In her bloodied fist, she holds a bone dripping with strings of flesh. Setting the bone on the floor, she gingerly flexes her injured hand. "Scully! You're hurt!" "I'm fine. Damn it, it stings. Must be some kind of digestive juices." "Wipe it off." I propel her outside to the nearest snow bank where she delicately peels off the bloodied glove and bathes her sliced hand in clean snow. Connelly and Guifford crowd around us, their argument ended by their concern for Scully's welfare. "That bone was human, Mulder. We need to dissect the...the worm, remove the rest of the skeleton." She risks a peek at her hand. It's striated with dozens of small cuts. Blood seeps from her raw skin. "You go back to quarters, clean up your hand." I keep my voice low, no more than a whisper, because I know that's one sure way she'll listen to me and take my words seriously. Now is not the time for an arguement. "We'll bring the worm." Her face has paled; her pain is obvious. But she doesn't utter even the tiniest whimper. I'd be whining like a baby. I feel like crying just looking at her. Fuck the damn worm. I want to pick up Scully and carry her back to quarters instead. She must guess I'm on the verge of scooping her off her feet and manhandling her to the nearest first aid kit. She warns me away with a scowl. "Fine, I'll clean up. But bring me the worm. Connelly, you can help with the dissection. We can--" "Scully, go!" I insist. Leveling another frown at me, she finally shuts up and heads toward the living quarters. Blood drips from her fingers, leaving a trail of bright red dots in the white snow, the sight of which churns my stomach more than six chilidogs and a ride on the Cyclone at Coney Island. Bile forces its way up the back of my throat. I'm generally not the queasy type -- okay sometimes I am -- but the sight of Scully's blood makes my knees go especially weak. After all, I've made it my self-appointed mission to guarantee her safety and I take the responsibility damn seriously. Regrettably, as with most of the things I try to do, I often fail. I don't keep her safe. I fall pitifully short in my role as Scully's protector. Her brother is right. I'm one sorry son-of-a-bitch and her association with me is a constant threat to her well-being. She's been hurt plenty as my partner. And selfishly, despite knowing with absolute certainty that her best interest would be served by our complete, total, and permanent separation, the thing I fear most is being without her. She's the one woman I've ever loved who hasn't left me or died. Yet. "We can load the worm onto a dogsled," Guifford suggests, slapping me on the shoulder with a giant paw, knocking my guilt-fest into the back of my brain. "There's one in the garage." __________ Living Quarters 6:47 PM I hover over Scully as she finishes wrapping her wounded hand. It's clear I'm driving her nuts. But I can't help myself. I need to know she's okay. Really okay. "I'm fine," she tells me for the umpteenth time, but I don't trust that phrase. Hell, she claimed to be 'fine' when she was dying of cancer, so excuse me for being a little over-protective. "Scully, let me help--" "It's finished, Mulder. See?" She extends her bandaged hand for me to inspect. She's managed to neatly bind her injury, despite being right-handed. "Does it hurt much?" "No. Yes. A little. But honestly, I'm more embarrassed than anything else." "Embarrassed? What for?" "Mulder, I should have known better than to stick my hand inside that thing. I can just hear my mother saying, 'Don't touch that, Dana. You don't know where it's been.'" "What do you think was inside it that cut you?" "That's what I plan to find out. Where is the snow worm now?" "Connelly's got it laid out in the cafeteria. He's waiting for you." "Well, let's go." She turns on her heel and heads for the dining hall. We find Connelly pacing the room, a barely contained bundle of energy impatient to learn more about the strange creature stretched out on one of the dining tables. The worm's two distinct halves lay side-by-side, each section slightly longer than the ten-foot table. The diameter measures bigger around than a man's waist...if you don't count the bulge of partially digested human remains lodged conspicuously in one end. "This thing is amazing!" Connelly's eyes light up like a sixteen-year-old with a new driver's license and the keys to his dad's Porsch. "It's huge! The biggest annelid I've ever seen! Nothing else even comes close." "Other than its size, how does it differ from other annelids?" Scully jumps right in, eager to define this creature in scientific terms. "Do other fur-covered worms exist?" "Actually, if you look closely, you'll see this isn't fur at all. It's chaete. The phylum Annelida consists of segmented worms such as earthworms, leeches, and polychaetes. Polychaetes literally means 'many bristles.' More than 9000 known species of annelids are found in a variety of habitats, including terrestrial, marine, and freshwater. Snow, too, I guess. It's the segmentation along the trunks that distinguishes them. They have a serial repetition of segments and organ systems divided by septa throughout the body. You can see the very distinct segments right here." Connelly traces a gloved finger around one of several indentations circling the worm's body. "Let's cut it open," Scully suggests to the young scientist. Connelly readily agrees and chooses a sharp kitchen knife. He draws the knife evenly through the worm. Milky-white fluid drains from his incision. "Annelids are coelomate animals -- they have a fluid-filled body cavity in which the gut and other organs are suspended." "Which end is the front?" I can't see any difference at all. "This." Connelly points with his knife. "See the mouth, here? The anus is at that end." He gestures at a seemingly identical orifice on the opposite end of the table. "These animals use their fluid-filled bodies as a hydrostatic skeleton. Annelids are basically a muscular bag of fluid that allows them to control body movement by controlling where the liquid in their coelom flows." "What keeps the fluid from freezing in low arctic temperatures?" "I have no idea," Connelly admits. "But many animals have evolved in ways that allow them to withstand extreme cold. For example, the body temperature of an arctic ground squirrel drops to 27 degrees Fahrenheit during hibernation...without freezing. And wood frogs found in the Brooks Range have the ability to freeze almost solid -- solid enough to snap in two -- and still survive. As temperatures drop, sugars are released by the frog's liver. The sugars enter the frog's cells, keeping the cells from shrinking and drying out. When water outside freezes, the sugar-water inside forms a slush, leaving the frog undamaged. In spring, the frogs thaw and hop away unharmed. This annelid may have some unique anti-freezing chemical in the fluid of its body, keeping it from freezing. We'll have to run some tests to identify the specific make-up of-- Wow, this is weird!" Personally, I think everything he's said so far is weird. "What is it?" "Look at this structure inside the gut! I've never seen anything like this." Connelly exposes a rough-textured material inside the worm. It looks like a giant bottlebrush made of steel wool. The wiry structure coils like a corkscrew down through the animal's body. "It's sharp. Real sharp. Like razor wire. I think we found what sliced your hand, AgentScully." "It looks like it could strip even the toughest tissue from bone," Scully adds. "Check this out. There are bits of what appear to be sand and rock in here, too. The stones are embedded throughout the digestive structure." "That wiry stuff looks almost metallic," I point out. "Well, I can't say for certain, but I doubt the tissue is any kind of metal. As I'm sure you're aware, all life on earth is carbon-based. There are no exceptions." Hmm. An extraterrestrial connection? I waggle my eyebrows at Scully. She gives me a familiar 'don't go there' look. Cutting deeper with his knife, Connelly exposes what's left of the human carcass inside the worm's swollen digestive tract. "This worm's abrasive inner tissue, combined with the sand and stone, probably scrapes meat from bones very quickly. The bones are then expelled and the meat remains in the gut where it's digested." "That would explain the condition of the bones Mulder and I found in the pump building. All the surfaces appeared to have been scoured." "Where do you think the worm came from in the first place?" I ask. "Is it possible it originated off-planet?" Connelly stares at me like I just grew a second head. Scully's expression tells me she fully expected this question. "I mean, why hasn't this creature been seen before?" I ask. "Many new species are discovered everyday, Agent Mulder. I don't think we need to jump to any rash conclusions about EBEs." "No rash conclusions, Mulder," Scully repeats. "I'll admit this is a unique organism," Connelly concedes. "However there are any number of reasons an animal like this could have remained undiscovered until now." "Such as...?" "Possibly it tolerates or requires very long periods of hibernation. Some viruses remain dormant for hundreds, even thousands of years." "What would wake it up now?" "Well, a cyclical change usually triggers an animal to emerge from hibernation. The most common event is predictable seasonal variation. I really wouldn't want to guess, Agent Mulder. Not without more study." "Guifford mentioned that the appearance of the red aurora is cyclical. Could the arrival of this worm have anything to do with the recurrent changes of the Northern Lights?" "That's quite a leap. The fact that this species has remained undiscovered only until recently may be attributable to no more than simple fact that very few of these worms exist," Connelly explains. "Actually, I've been wondering how many more we might find." "At least one," I suggest. "Not necessarily. Annelids are hermaphroditic. They possess both male and female gonads. And some don't procreate sexually at all, but reproduce by budding." And I thought my love life was boring. "Can you tell which type this is?" "The glands are quite obvious there below the head. But their presence doesn't mean this annelid can't bud as well." Obvious? I see nothing resembling sex organs anywhere along the worm. Hell, I can't even remember which end was the head. Preferring not to show my ignorance of annelid anatomy, I simply nod. "Agent Mulder? You want to lend me a hand?" Guifford pokes his head into the cafeteria and saves me the embarrassment of failing Annelid Biology 101. "I want to collect the two bodies you and Agent Scully discovered in the pump building. Bag 'em for transport back to Fairbanks. We still have a missing man to locate as well." I grab my parka. __________ Main Pump Building 7:52 PM "Agent Scully going to be okay?" A crease of worry pinches Guifford's eyebrows. In minutes, we're in the main pump building, filling the first of two body bags. "So she claims. But sometimes she lies so I won't worry." "Jesus," Guifford gestures at the meager pile of bones we tuck into the bag. "A few days ago, this was a man I knew. A friend. All these men were friends of mine. The first four. These two. The one still inside the belly of that damn creature." "I'm sorry. One man may still be alive." I offer him hope. "You don't really think that any more than I do. Christ, if the worm didn't get him, the cold certainly has." He zips the bag shut. We move to the next body. "I'm glad I killed it. I'm glad it's dead." He's talking about the worm, of course. "There may be more." "Shit." "It's likely there are more." "Where the hell did these damn monsters come from, Agent Mulder? And how the Christ are we gonna get rid of them? I can't just close this pump station down, abandon it. I'm expected to permanently secure it. Make it safe for our workers to return." I don't have an answer for him. Scully's injury and the deaths of seven men have dulled my initial excitement for this case. Unlike the Loch Ness Monster, this creature swallows men whole and then spits out the bones. Or maybe the bones come out the tail end. I'm not sure and I guess it really doesn't matter. The result is the same either way. "Let's see if we can find your other man," I suggest. We stack the two bags and easily carry them to the airplane. Guifford stows the bodies in the plane's cargo hold. The crewmen's skeletal remains take up less space than one medium-sized Samsonite suitcase. "Scully and I didn't get the chance to check the booster pump building. Maybe we should start there," I suggest. "Yes. And if we need to, we'll circle around to the generator building afterward. The crude units, too. Connelly and I never made it that far." We talk and walk at the same time. It's too cold to stand out in the wind. "You fired three shots." I press Guifford for more information as we hurry to the pump building. "Yeah. And not one of 'em did a damn thing to stop the creature. It was like throwing darts at a whale. Had no effect whatsoever. So I cut it in half." "Did it attack you?" "No." Guifford looks chagrined. "That's why Connelly was so pissed. He was right, Agent Mulder. We weren't in any immediate danger. But when I saw that damn lump in its belly..." His voice fades out and we both picture the giant worm flaying the Alyeska crewman. Alive. Shit. "Maybe we should go back and get your ax." Guifford opens the door to the secondary pump building and flicks on the lights. It doesn't take us long to complete a walk-through of the small space. We come up empty handed. No missing crewman. No worms. "Generator building's next door." Guifford points the way. We exit through a side door and wade through drifting snow to a neighboring building. Blowing snow cuts visibility to about ten yards. It's a relief to get back inside where four thrumming turbines keep the temperature toasty warm. We split up. Guifford patrols the left side of the building, I take the right. We weave our way around the first massive turbine, which looks like a ten-foot radius half-barrel lying on its side. Finding nothing, we continue around the next one. Still nothing. On the far side of the third unit, we freeze in our tracks. Between us, hugging the back side of the third turbine is a literal nest of twenty-foot-long worms. Shit. There must be fifty or more, lumped into an enormous knotted pile. They undulate in an effort to get closer to the turbine. Several comparatively tiny piles of bones dot the floor beyond the worms. At this distance, it's impossible to tell if the bones are animal or human. I glance across the room at Guifford and see he's staring straight back at me. Does my expression look as panicked as his? I'm not sure if the pounding I hear is from the station's turbines or my own heart. Whatever. When one of the worms stretches its head in my direction, I don't wait around to figure it out. As silently as I can, I back up. I move slowly and deliberately at first...until a sound like fifty skiers racing down a mountain slope launches me toward the door in an all-out run. Guifford is ahead of me, his longer legs easily outdistancing mine. Outside the door, he's kind enough to wait. I'm not sure I would have offered him the same courtesy. When I finally cross the threshold, he slams the door shut behind us, trapping the worms inside. It dawns on both of us simultaneously that the door is of little or no protection. After all, the worms managed to get into the building in the first place with the door closed. "Let's go!" he urges and I'm not inclined to argue. With a sense of relief I never thought possible, we reach the living quarters and close ourselves inside. Philp, Scully, and Connelly stare at us as if we've brought the entire family of worms along with us. __________ Living Quarters 8:33 PM "What the hell happened to you two?" I'm not sure who asks the question. It could have come from any one of them. "Worms," Guifford gasps. "Lots of worms," I squeak before gulping in a lung full of air. "Where?" Again I'm not sure who's asking. "Generator..." "Building." Guifford and I are like two runners in a relay race, passing off the baton and letting the other finish what the first began. "Holy shit." That definitely came from Connelly. Philp is looking like he doesn't believe a word we're saying. Scully's mouth is closed, although her eyebrows have climbed into her hairline. Guifford and I sag against the door hoping our combined weight is enough to hold back the horde of man-eating worms. "How many worms were there?" Connelly is ready to start scientifically analyzing the situation. Thank god. Despite being the youngest person here, he's the expert and we're counting on him to make sense of things. Tell us what to do. "Enough bait to catch a shit-load of Beluga." Did I say that? I must be more nervous than I thought. "Fifty. Maybe more," Guifford clarifies my overstatement. "Where were they exactly? What were they doing?" "They were piled next to one of the turbines," Guifford explains. "Trying to stay warm maybe?" I guess. "I doubt it. The worms are naturally suited to an arctic environment. They shouldn't need an external source of heat...unless..." "Unless...?" "Unless they're young. Undeveloped." "B-babies?" I stammer. "They were twenty feet long! At least. Just like the one we carried in here earlier," Guifford insists. "We don't know for a fact that the one we dissected was a mature adult." The sketch! If that drawing I found is any indication, I'm guessing there's a mother of a Mama Snow Worm somewhere outside. I feel like we've stepped into a bad movie. A cheesy grade B horror flick where the local fauna is transformed into a hero-gobbling giant by some kind of bizarre nuclear test gone awry. I expect to see James Arness walk through the door any minute. "Maybe it wasn't the heat," I say, hoping for another explanation. "Maybe they're attracted to something else. The electricity. Or the magnetic field." "It's possible," Connelly agrees. Evidently he doesn't care for the grim implications of a worm nursery any more than I do. We'd all prefer to think the twenty-footers are as big as these things get. "Or the sound? Maybe?" I'm grasping at straws. "Did you find the missing crewman?" Scully changes the subject, bringing us back to our true purpose for being here. "No. We saw lots of bones--" "Are we in danger?" Philp interrupts. "Are we safe in here?" Five pairs of eyes shift, half expecting to see a battalion of worms wearing bibs and holding forks undulate down the hall behind us. "Let's batten down. Check all possible points of entry." Guifford takes command. "Why not fly out of here right now?" Philp insists. "We're here for a reason," I remind him. "Which is?" An acceptable answer escapes me. Why are we here? I know I was hoping to see something strange and new-- "To find four missing crewmen and bring them back, alive or dead," Scully says. "The families of those men deserve an explanation." Right. What Scully said. That's why we're here. "Well, you've found them...most of them any way. It'll be a miracle if the last crewman is alive. I say we leave. Now!" Philp's eyes shoot daggers at us. "I came to study these animals," Connelly argues. "And I plan to do exactly that." "So *you* stay. The rest of us don't have to risk our necks while you work on your dissertation." "No one is being left behind," Guifford yells. "We all go or we all stay. Shall we take a vote? Who wants to leave right now?" Philp's hand goes up. I look at Scully. She folds her arms across her chest. If she's staying, I'm staying. Connelly's obviously not leaving. "Until that last crewman is found, my job isn't finished." Guifford looks straight at Philp. "And neither is yours. So I guess we're all here for a bit longer. Now let's go through this building and lock or block any doors, windows, vents and other possible points of entry." __________ Living Quarters 3:33 AM "Mulder? Mulder, are you asleep?" Scully calls softly from beyond my bedroom door. "It's open, Scully." She pushes the door inward and peeks at me. She looks surprised to find me on top of the covers. "What are you doing, Mulder? We're supposed to be getting a couple of hours sleep." "I could ask you the same question." "I brought you some food." "Scully! You cooked for me?" "Don't be ridiculous. These are Oreos." She extends a plate and I take a couple of cookies. "And milk." She sets a glass on the nightstand next to me. "Cookies and milk. You wouldn't happen to have a Teddy bear somewhere for me, too, would you?" "No. Mind if I join you for a few minutes?" "Not at all." I shift to make some room for her on the bed. There are no chairs. "Scully, if you thought I was asleep, why'd you bring me cookies? I'll take another, by the way." Placing the plate on my thigh, she passes me the glass of milk. I down half the glass in three gulps before offering it back to her. "Finish it," I urge. She takes a dainty sip, and then sets the milk on the nightstand. "I saw your light under the door on my way to the kitchen," she confesses. "You can't sleep?" She holds up her bandaged hand to explain her insomnia. "I was looking for ibuprofen," she admits. She sinks into the pillows stacked high against my headboard beside me. I raided three other bedrooms so I could prop myself comfortably upright while reading a dog-eared copy of 'Tremors' scrounged from the station's meager library. "You okay, Scully?" "The aurora makes the station look as if it's on fire." She ignores my question and gazes out the tiny bedroom window. She's right. The red glow and the hazy blowing snow give the impression of flame and smoke. "Doesn't it." She's not asking a question. I don't stare with her out the window at the fiery sky. Instead, I stare at her fiery hair. A thousand shades of red shimmer and sway and drift around her head in the static-filled winter air. Before I realize what I'm doing, I reach over and stroke a curved lock at her ear lobe. Her focus slides to me. "A few minutes. I just want to stay a few minutes," she whispers. I nod. All I want is for her to stay. "Stay as long as you like." She covers my hand with her uninjured one. Her touch is extraordinarily gentle. "I'm glad we're here," she says, surprising me. "Really?" "Mmhm. This case is important." "Chasing a snow worm? Scully, I have to admit, I expected more ribbing from you than I got for Big Blue or the Jersey Devil." "Don't forget the Flukeman. Or that sea creature in Florida." She smiles her tiny little Mona Lisa smile. "Or the Wanshang Dhole?" Now she laughs. "Or the Wanshang Dhole." "How about the Golem?" "Mmhm. And the Tulpa. Oh, oh, and remember the terrible insects in the Olympic National Forest?" She leans into my shoulder. Her smile is beautiful. "El Chupacabrraaaa." I add to our list, rolling the R. "And mothmen." "Of course. We wouldn't want to leave out the mothmen." I really, really want to kiss her. And not just because listening to her talk about mythical beasts is a bigger turn-on than phone sex. "What makes these snow worms more important than Big Blue or mothmen?" I ask, trying to distract myself. Or maybe I just want her to keep talking so I can watch her luscious lips move. "Not the worms, Mulder. The people. The people who won't be killed by the worms. They're what's important." She's looking into my eyes. I try not to blink. I don't want to shut her out, not even for a second. I say nothing and wait for her to continue. "This case...we're going to save lives." "We save lots of lives, Scully. All the time." "Sometimes we save fewer than we lose." "I think our record's on the plus side." "Maybe. This case, however, is going to help our average." "You sound certain. Don't tell me you have a hunch or something." "Hardly. And if I did, I'd never admit it to you." "Seven men have already died," I remind her. "That was before we got here. It doesn't count." "It doesn't?" "Of course not. We can't control what happens *before* we're put on a case." She squints at me. "You're not feeling somehow to blame for the deaths of those crewmen, are you?" "No. But if we'd gotten here earlier..." "Jesus, Mulder. I've never met anybody who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders quite the way you do. You're not to blame for all of life's tragedies, you know." Well, that's not the message I got as a kid. The fault always seemed to be mine and I'm still apologizing for it. If only to ghosts. The words "I'm sorry" slip out of my mouth more often than Elvis sightings in Vegas. Knowing you're not to blame and feeling you're not to blame are two totally different things. A doctorate in psychology does nothing to change my feelings of culpability. I nailed myself into a coffin of guilt the day Sam was taken. And now I keep looking to Scully to show up with a crowbar so she can pry me out of my tomb of self-reproach. I obviously don't have the fortitude to free myself. As usual, I ask far too much of Scully. I may not be to blame for all of life's tragedies, but I am certainly responsible for hers. Her unselfish sacrifices are my greatest regrets. Her losses stoke the fires of my own well-deserved guilt. I know I bring nothing to her...nothing but seven years of suffering that would have crushed the spirit of anyone with less courage. Anyone but Scully. I'm afraid I'll wind up killing her in the end. Death by association. Historically, that's the pattern anyway. What in hell...? Scully is leaning in...she's...she's kissing me...on the lips. Just a tiny, little, light kiss but definitely a kiss. And the gentle touch of her lips on mine immobilizes me. I'm dumbstruck. I can't believe she would want this. "Good night, Mulder." She slides from the bed, her lips leaving me before I have a chance to respond to them or to her. "You could stay," I tell her, sounding desperate. "Good night, Mulder." Watching her close the door behind her, I eat the last Oreo cookie and wish with all my heart and soul that I had the nugs to ask that woman to marry me. __________ Living Quarters 5:10 AM After a couple of short, sleepless hours, Scully, Connelly, Guifford, and I meet at the breakfast table to plan our strategy. Philp doesn't join us. Apparently, he's leaving the day's dirty work to us. At the top of our to-do list, of course, is finding the final crewman. Beyond that, Connelly wants to gather as much information about the worms as possible. Guifford is more interested in securing the station for APSC. Scully has no agenda beyond finding the crewman. Naturally, I like to think she wants to make sure I stay alive and healthy, too. Coffee cups steaming, we lean over our now empty breakfast plates to discuss our next steps. "I want to get a look at the nest," Connelly informs us. "It's too dangerous," Guifford warns. "We have no way to defend ourselves." "I need to observe them if I'm going to learn anything about their behavior." "I understand that, son, but those worms attacked Agent Mulder and me without provocation. I wouldn't recommend going back to the nest until we have some means to protect ourselves. Our guns are useless against those creatures." "I don't want to hurt them." "Unfortunately, they don't feel the same way about us." "They're not evil. They're just hungry." "And they see us as lunch. Look, son," -- Guifford places a big hand on Connelly's shoulder -- "Alyeska expects me to clear those creatures out of this station. Permanently. The pipeline isn't a nature preserve for endangered species. You've got to let go of the idea of saving them." "It's not right. We know nothing about them." "And that's exactly why you're here. Learn what you can, while you can, because it's my job to kill these things. Every last one of them." "Do you feel the same way, Agent Mulder? Agent Scully?" Connelly's eyes dart from me to Scully. "I don't think we have much of a choice, Will," Scully says gently. "Lives are at stake. Unless you can suggest some way for us to either relocate the worms or interact with them safely, we may have to kill them." "I haven't had enough time to study their habits. I...I..." Connelly throws up his hands. "We're out of time." Guifford pushes his chair back from the table. "If my last man is still alive, he won't be for long. We've got to find him now. I plan to kill those monsters." "How?" Connelly asks, looking worried. Hell, he looks downright dismal. "I'm thinking about triggering the generator building's Halon fire suppression system." "No! Wait! Why not finish searching the other buildings first?" Connelly pleads. "If you don't find the crewman, then flood the nest with Halon. As a last resort. Maybe that'll give me time enough to learn something helpful." Scully clears her throat, interrupting their discussion. "Bob, why don't you and I search the facility for the crewman while Mulder and Will return to the nest to see what they can learn?" Scully suggests. "Are you sure you're up to it?" Guifford eyes Scully's bandaged hand. "I'm fine." "Scully--" "I'm fine, Mulder." I guess I shouldn't tell her I was about to protest a repeat visit to the worms' nest and not her injury. With my concerned-partner persona at risk -- not to mention my pretend machismo -- I decide it's best to let her think what she will. "Let's go then." Shit, did I say that? __________ Generator Building 5:40 AM Squinting against the blowing snow, Connelly and I wade through fresh drifts to the generator building. Everything around us glows a fiery red from the persistent aurora. If it weren't for the frigid temperature, I'd swear we'd stepped directly into the flames of hell. A distinct possibility, considering the demons we're about to face. At the building's entrance, I hold Connelly back. "Wait! Don't go in yet," I shout over the howling wind. "Why not?" "Let me get the ax from the maintenance garage first." Connelly clearly has no desire to linger. He knows we don't have much time before Guifford returns and insists on activating the Halon system. "I'll only be a minute," I promise. "Don't go in without me." "Okay, but hurry up." I do. Not only because I'm worried Connelly won't wait, but because it's so damn cold. I enter the maintenance garage and briefly wonder if I've gone deaf. The total silence is a shock after the noisy bluster outside. Guifford's ax leans against the fire truck. The surrounding floor is still slicked with milky white ice from the worm he killed yesterday. I grab the ax and go. I haven't taken more than a step or two outside when I hear Connelly scream. Not a call for help, but a high-pitched shriek of sheer terror. Shit! I race to where I left him standing at the threshold of the generator building. He's not there. Damn it. I'm about to go inside when I hear him yell again. His sickening squeal of pain fades into an echo of dying fear. I swivel and peer through the swirling snow, trying to locate him somewhere in the crimson blizzard. Fuck! Not ten yards away, a swollen worm is plowing through the snow straight at me. I'm stunned by its speed. As it charges, it rears up out of the powdery drift and opens its mouth. My muscles lock up tighter than rush hour traffic on the George Washington Parkway and I almost drop the ax when I catch a glimpse of Connelly's bloodstained jacket lodged inside the worm's throat. I think I hear a gurgled cry as the monster's enormous maw stretches wider and wider in anticipation of swallowing me whole. Acting on pure instinct, I swing the ax and slice a good-sized chunk of flesh from the worm's head, sending a spray of white liquid through the chilly air. The worm contracts backward, recoiling from the threat of my blade. I take advantage of its retreat and hack at it again, this time lodging my ax firmly into its muscular body. It thrashes and I nearly lose my grip on the ax. I yank the weapon free and slash into the beast once more. Two or three more strokes and I've managed to sever its head. To my astonishment, this doesn't kill it. It continues to squirm, roiling backward trying to escape from me. Liquid pours from its open wound. When the fountain of milky white turns pink from Connelly's blood, I lose it. I attack the creature, plunging my ax into it again and again. Adrenaline takes control of me. I feel like the Energizer Bunny as I chop the worm in half and keep on chopping. I strike into the still writhing half-worm in a rage. Each segment of the worm's liquid-filled body bursts like a water balloon when I hack my way along its bulk. The spouting fluid soaks the outside of my parka. The inside of my coat is saturated by my own sweat. My lungs ache for more oxygen. I can't breathe deeply enough to satisfy the demands of my overworked body. Finally, when the ax becomes too heavy to lift anymore and my shaking legs give out, I drop to my knees beside the now unmoving carcass. I take only a moment to catch my breath before I grab for the bulge that contains Connelly. I use the ax to rip open the worm's bristly flesh, tearing my way through the layers of grisly tissue to the body of the young scientist inside. I'm hoping against hope that I'm not too late and somehow Connelly is still miraculously alive. Like Jonah in the whale, I guess. Chopping through the wiry organ that coils through the animal's gut, I work to free Connelly. My stomach heaves when a gruesome collection of human bones and muscles slips from of the worm like an aborted fetus, joining the carnage already staining the snow. "No. God damn it, no!" Connelly looks like he's been turned inside out. Slaughtered in less than a minute or two. I struggle to my feet. Manage to stay upright. I'm exhausted. And so damn cold. My wet clothes have started to freeze. I lurch in the direction of Scully and Guifford, gripping my ax like a lifeline. __________ Topping Unit 6:25 AM "Mulder!" Scully pales when she sees me. I must look like shit. I'm covered in icy gore and shivering like a San Andreas Jell-O factory. She grips me, holding me up. "Mulder, what happened? Where's Will?" I try to answer but can't. My chattering teeth don't allow it. "Let's get you to the living quarters." Grabbing my sleeve, Scully turns me back the way I came. "You're freezing. You're going into shock." Guifford grasps my other arm and I let them propel me along while I try to simply stay on my feet. "D-d-did you f-find the other cr-crewman?" I clench my jaws in an effort to stop my clacking teeth. "No." Her revelation sends a fresh tremor through my already quaking muscles. "Sh-shit." "I'm gonna kill those fucking snow monsters," Guifford promises. "Starting with the nest. And then I'm going to find my other man." "Bob, we may still be able to find him without killing the worms." Scully tugs at me. "This way, Mulder." "We can't thoroughly search this station without endangering our own lives. My crewman could be holed up in any one of the buildings. We've got to clear out those worms so we can be free to comb this facility. The best way to take out those worms is at the nest with the Halon." Guifford's voice seems to drift into my ears from some far-off place. I'm surprised when I look down and see his big hand gripping my arm. At the living quarters, Guifford opens the door and I stumble inside. "Come on, Mulder. You need to change out of these wet clothes." Scully guides me down the hall toward the bathroom. "Tell us what happened to Will," she insists. Guifford follows us. He wants to learn the details, too. "I...I left him...only for a m-minute. T-t-to get the ax." I hold up the ax for them to see. Guifford slides it from my grip and leans it against the bathroom wall. I can do little more than shiver while Scully strips the frosty, blood-soaked gloves from me. "What then?" she removes my coat and then tugs my sweater over my head. "I heard him yell...uh...scream. I ran. T-too late." Fuck, I can't stop shaking. "Help me. Mulder, *help* me. You need to get out of these clothes and into a warm shower." I fumble with my belt, but can't seem to make my hands work. Guifford takes pity and joins in, assisting Scully and me. "Where's Connelly's body?" Guifford asks. He twirls the faucet on the nearest shower and lets the water heat. "Outside the g-generator b-building." All my clothes lay in a wet heap in the corner, my thermal underwear topping the pile. Guifford tests the water's temperature before pushing me under the spray. I turn my back on the two of them and let the steam heat my skin. "I'll get some towels," Scully offers, leaving Guifford to make sure I don't collapse and drown. "Was it quick?" "Huh?" Confused, I look over my shoulder at Guifford. "Quick. His death. Did Connelly die quickly?" I nod. "You gonna be okay? Will you be able to help us with the Halon?" I nod again. Even in the hot water, I feel chilled to the bone. Scully soon appears with several towels. Guifford turns off the water and I let them wrap me in terrycloth. Somehow, we get to my bedroom. I manage to put on some pants. Scully pulls a clean, dry thermal shirt over my head. She gives my hair another once-over with another towel and wipes a wayward drip from my chin. I'm not shivering anymore. But it seems as though everything around me is happening in fits and starts, as if I'm on pause while the rest of the world keeps playing at standard speed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left him alone. I'm sorry," I mutter. "Stop saying that, Mulder. It's not your fault. Connelly knew what he was getting into more than any of us. Here, put this on." She holds out a fresh sweater. Numbly, I pull it over me. Once my arms are through the sleeves, Guifford passes me a cup of coffee. I have no idea when he left the room to get it, but it smells good. I drink it and begin to feel normal again. "Philp is going to have to help us," Guifford says. Scully seems to know what he's talking about but I'm lost. "We should go in teams of two, one team at each end of the building. One person on each team can set off a sensor, the other person can watch their back. We'll have to time everything just right. The sensors need to be tripped simultaneously. Once the Halon system is activated, we have to get out of there. We'll only have ninety seconds, at most." "Can't you activate the Halon system from the computer in the living quarters?" Scully asks. "Unfortunately, no. The system requires two heat sensors to go off simultaneously in order to trip the Halon. It's a failsafe required by the EAP to prevent the system from being triggered by a false alarm." "You go with Mulder. I'll team with Philp." "Are you sure?" Guifford asks. "I think I have a better chance with him than you do. You seem to irritate each other." Guifford laughs and nods his agreement. "Feeling better, Mulder?" Scully sits on the bed next to me and rubs her palm across my back. "Mmhm. Yeah." "Okay then. I'll get Philp." __________ Living Quarters 8:23 AM From halfway down the hall, I can hear Philp arguing with Scully. "You're crazier than that scientist if you think I'm going to waltz into a fucking worm nursery." "William Connelly. His name was Will Connelly. He was twenty-six years old and he was trying to help save lives by finding out everything he could about those animals." "I guess he found out they were hungry." "Stan, we need your help." "You better figure out another way. I hate worms. Even small ones. I have no intention of getting anywhere near a nest of twenty-foot long, squirming monsters." Even in my still slightly dazed state, I can't help but be curious about Philp's unusual worm phobia. People are afraid of a lot of different things. Snakes, of course. Spiders. I once heard of a guy who was scared of horses -- said they were out to take over the world. But the innocuous earthworm? What traumatic childhood horror had caused Philp to loathe harmless worms? "There is no other way," Scully says firmly. "A crewman is still missing. We are going to find him. Believe me, if you expect to leave Station 6, return home, and never see another worm again, you are going to help us do this. Do you understand?" In case I never mentioned it, Scully has a commanding tone that disallows argument or objection. Despite her small size, she can stop killers, evacuate buildings, and even disarm sinister Syndicate bosses using her uniquely authoritarian voice. It has the exact same pitch as your mother's when you were seven years old and were told in no uncertain terms that you would never, *ever* again kidnap your little sister's Teddy bear and hold it hostage in your bedroom claiming it was now a prisoner of the Klingon Empire...oops, guess that was my mother. Anyway, Philp is no match for Scully. Never stood a chance. Scully tosses Philp a parka and he grudgingly slides it on. Guifford is waiting by the door holding two small propane torches. "The fire suppression system in the generator building uses Halon gas as an extinguishing agent," Guifford explains. "The entire space floods when two or more heat sensors are activated simultaneously. After the system is triggered, we'll have only ninety seconds to evacuate and seal off the building." "Or what?" Philp asks nervously. "Or we suffocate." "Where are the heat sensors?" Scully wants to know. "The sensors are located in the ceiling above the turbines. There are two exits to the building, one at each end. Obviously, I suggest we set off the sensors nearest the exits. We'll use these propane torches to trigger the alarms." "How do we get on top of the turbines?" "Each unit has a built-in ladder leading to the top. The turbines themselves are about ten feet tall. The ceiling is eighteen feet." "What about the worms? What do we do if the worms attack?" Philp blocks the door. It's clear he's terrified. "We've got two axes. One for each team. You take this one," Guifford thrusts the ad hoc weapon at Philp. "Unless you'd rather have Agent Scully watch your back while you light the torch." Philp glances at Scully's bandaged hand and decides he'd prefer to hang onto the weapon. "The other ax is in the maintenance garage. We'll pick it up on the way. Agent Mulder, do you prefer to work worm patrol or fire duty?" "I've already seen enough wormburger for one day, thanks. I'd just as soon play with matches." "Okay. Agent Mulder and I will set off the sensor over the number four turbine, closest to nest. Agent Scully, you and Philp activate the sensor over the number one turbine. Any objections?" We shake our heads. "Let's do it." Guifford opens the front door and leads us into the blowing snow. Our first stop is the maintenance garage where Guifford retrieves the second ax from behind a long row of Arctic Cat snowmobiles. Two firemen's axes seem very meager protection. "It should take less than three minutes to get in the building, climb the ladders, and activate the sensors," Guifford tells us. "Don't forget to shut the doors behind you on your way out. We need to contain the worms inside the building with the Halon. Everyone ready?" Nodding, Scully parts from the group and marches bravely into the swirling snow to the generator building's front door. Shouldering his ax, Philp trails behind her like a reluctant child. Guifford and I hurry to the opposite end of the building. We find the door wide open. "Now we know how the worms got in," Guifford whispers. As silently as possible, Guifford and I approach the fourth turbine. The nest is less than ten yards away on the other side. Every little, teensy-weensy noise we make seems loud enough to roust even the dead worm that lies out front, not to mention the fifty or so Sleeping Beauties cozying up to the third turbine. I tuck the propane torch under my arm and scale the ten-foot ladder on the turbine. My snow-covered boots slip on the metal rungs. I wonder how Scully's managing to lug a torch and climb her ladder with only one good hand. When I step onto the curved roof of the turbine, I get a bird's eye view of the worms hugging the number three unit. I can also see Scully at the far end of the room, perched on the rounded apex of the first turbine. She gives me a bandaged thumb's up. I mirror her gesture and we light our torches, holding them as close as possible to the sensors. Scully stands on tiptoe, her arms stretched high over her head. Because my reach is longer, I'm a heck of a lot closer to my sensor than she is to hers. Will it make a difference if our timing isn't precisely in synch? Do these sensors have to be tripped at the absolute same moment? The worms in the nest shift, vying with each other for the space closest to the humming turbine. Fuck. On the floor just below me, I see the unmistakable skeleton of a human being. The bones can only belong to the final missing crewman. We're risking our lives -- not to mention killing all these animals -- for a dead man. The moral justification for our slaughter just slithered out the window. I consider yelling to the others. Calling off our attack. But the worms in the nest already seem agitated. They know we're here. A few heads rear up and I realize it's too late to stop what we're doing. As the worms spread out, our attack now becomes a defensive maneuver. I glance at Guifford. Oh, shit! Behind him, a worm is nudging through the door on its return to the nest and Guifford is directly in its path. He's facing away from it and doesn't see it. "Behind you!" I blurt, warning Guifford. He spins. And at the same time, the fire alarm blares. The Halon system is activated. Scully is scrambling down her ladder. Philp is already out of the building. The worms at the nest appear confused, maybe by the shrill alarm or perhaps by the flashing strobe lights. Below me, Guifford lifts his ax like a baseball bat and waits for the worm's attack. The creature's mouth yawns open as it nears the big man. Guifford swings. I clamber down the ladder to join the battle, thrusting my flaming torch into the beast's bristled flank. Steam rises from its flesh where I sear it. The worm instinctively curls around itself in an effort to protect its injured skin. With the worm distracted, Guifford shoves me toward the door. He's right on my heels. Prepared to slam the door closed behind us, it's my turn to play the gentleman, so I wait for Guifford to clear the threshold. He never makes it. The worm has uncoiled and latched onto the big man's leg. Guifford yelps. I grab his outstretched hand and pull, bracing myself against the doorframe. Guifford screams again. Blood grinds from the worm's mouth. I tug as hard as I can but find myself losing ground. Behind Guifford, over the bowed back of the thrashing worm, I can see the floor coming alive as the nest of worms disperses and the animals heave toward the door...and us. "Scully!" I yell for backup. "Scully, help!" "Let go," Guifford grunts. Blood slops to the floor from somewhere below his left knee where his leg disappears into the snow worm's mouth. "Let go and shut...the...door." "No!" I won't. I won't leave him, close him in with those creatures. "Scully! Scully!" I call frantically over my shoulder. "I need your help!" My arms feel like they're being torn from their sockets. A series of powerful jerks threaten to yank me off my feet. Scully rounds the corner, her gun drawn. She immediately aims and empties her clip into the giant worm. White fluid explodes from the bullet holes, but the creature doesn't release its hold on Guifford. My feet skid, inching me across the icy threshold. I flash Scully a desperate look, but she's staring past me at Guifford. Her eyes widen, tears of alarm shimmer on her lashes. "Nooooo!" she cries. I turn just in time to see Guifford bring his ax down against his own shin, separating him from the worm and the lower half of his leg. With the pull of the worm now gone, I fall backward dragging Guifford with me. Scully slams the door shut. Blood pours from Guifford's amputated leg. Scully instantly strips off her parka and gloves. She unfastens her belt and yanks it through the belt loops. Wrapping the belt quickly around Guifford's severed knee, she cinches the leather as tight as she can. The flow of blood slows but a freezing lake of red already surrounds Guifford. "Hurry. Let's get him back to quarters," Scully orders. I'm surprised to find Philp at my elbow. He helps me lift the big Security Chief. Guifford is losing consciousness. Two hundred and fifty pounds of dead weight drag at me and Philp. Scully hurries a couple of yards ahead to the living quarters where she holds open the door and waits for us. Draped across her arm, her parka flaps like a flag in the wind. I'm about to insist she put on the coat when the smooth bank of snow behind her shifts. I blink, trying to make sense of what I'm seeing. As if in slow motion, the drift rises high into the air. A small avalanche of snow rolls to the ground, softly burying Scully's feet. A cavernous hole opens behind my tiny partner, dwarfing her as it grows and expands to an alarming diameter. I think we've found the mother worm. Or rather, she's found us. "Scully..." I whisper, my voice scraping across my vocal chords like sand. She looks so small, so entirely vulnerable. Focused on Guifford, she's totally unaware of the threat at her back. "Goddamn fuckers!" Philp hisses, startling me. He heaves Guifford into my arms and knocks past Scully, shouldering her into the building. "Goddamn mother-fuckers!" he screams. His blood-curdling howl echoes off the buildings. He plunges his ax deeply into the head of the massive worm. He hacks again and again at the monstrosity while I jostle Guifford inside. I leave the him on the floor just inside the door and return to help Philp. Damn it, I have no weapon. The second ax is back in the generator building where Guifford dropped it. I don't know where I left my propane torch. I pull my gun realizing even as I do, it'll be useless against this fifty-foot giant. I fire anyway. Even as the creature's enormous mouth closes over Philp, I keep firing. I shoot every round. I continue to squeeze the trigger after all the bullets are gone. The gun clicks impotently in my fist. Scully is yelling into my ear, pulling at my coat. "Mulder, get inside! Mulder! Now!" She yanks me through the open door just as the worm crashes into the building, causing a thunderous tremor that shakes the walls. The behemoth then rolls away only to return with another deafening blow. A light fixture falls from the ceiling and smashes to the floor. Shards of glass spray the room. Several ceiling tiles tumble loose and spiral through the air. "We've got to move Guifford further into the building," Scully tugs uselessly on Guifford's coat with her one good hand. Another strike against the building propels me into action, lifting Guifford under the arms and dragging him toward the more centrally located bedrooms. Scully's found a first aid kit and is following me down the hall. Out of breath, I stretch Guifford on the floor. He's fading in and out of consciousness. I lean against the wall and suck in a lungful of air while Scully kneels to examine the big man's wound. "We need to get him to a hospital." She grabs a blanket from the bed and covers him. From the serious look on her face, I know the Security Chief doesn't have much time. "I'll radio for help," I tell her. I race down the hall to the office. The endless pounding at the front door grows so loud I can feel the vibration rattle inside my chest. Ignoring it, I locate the phone. Of course, it's a typical office phone -- you have to dial nine or eight or something to get an outside line. I keep guessing, punching numbers at random and hoping fate will give me a break. Finally, the call rings through. A receptionist at the Fairbanks FBI Field Office answers and I sputter my badge number and spill my story in a rush of confusing words. She gets the point, despite my frantic rambling. A chopper will be dispatched. I try to warn her about the worm. I don't want the rescue team to arrive unprepared. Certainly, she thinks I'm a raving lunatic, which only makes me lose my temper and sound even crazier. She tells me to hang on. Sit tight. Help is on the way. Her words are exactly what I want to hear. I hang up the phone and hurry back to Scully. "Is help coming?" she asks. "Yes. They're sending a chopper. How's he doing?" "Not well. He's lost a lot of blood." Guifford groans. The building shakes. "We may not be able to wait for the chopper, Scully." Her lips press together. Anger creases her brow. She will have none of my gloomy predictions. I can't help but think about her own optimistic prognostication last night. Sorry, Scully. Not this time. __________ Living Quarters 10:03 AM While the life drains out of Bob Guifford, Scully stands vigil and I scrounge the Station for a few necessities...items we may need in the event of an emergency escape. The mother worm continues her attack on the living quarters and has managed to collapse the outer wall. I've barricaded us inside the bedroom/kitchen area at the center of the building. If the worm gets through to the kitchen, Scully and I are leaving even if I have to carry her out of here. I plan to vacate Station 6 altogether on one of the Arctic Cats stored in the maintenance garage. Of course, I haven't mentioned any of this to Scully. As long as Guifford's still alive, she won't leave him. Not by choice. It's been only fifteen minutes since I called Fairbanks. Shit. Let's see. I've got snowshoes. Arctic tent. Road map. Extra socks. Hey, you get stuck on an arctic ice sheet once and you learn to be prepared the next time. I hope to hell there's gas in one of the Cats. At the last minute, I think to grab Connelly's notes about the worms and pack them with the other stuff. I've almost grown used to the regular drumming of the worm as it literally beats down our door. Fallen debris litters the station's floors. Cracks run up the walls. A couple of doorways lean crookedly, no longer rectangles but parallelograms. I rejoin Scully in the bedroom where she keeps watch over Guifford. "Philp saved my life," she says dully. "Yes. He did." "Why? Why do you think he...?" She isn't able to finish her question. "I don't know, Scully. Maybe the worms...the...it was all too much and he snapped. Or maybe he was a better man than we gave him credit for." "I thought...this case..." Again, her voice fades out. I help her to her feet and wrap my arms around her. "I know," I whisper into her hair. "The next case will turn out better." "Promise?" "Promise. I'll let you pick it." "That'll be a first." I almost laugh but Guifford moans and Scully slips from my arms to check him. "His pulse is thready. He's barely breathing." He's dying, but she won't say it. Although Scully accuses me of carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders, blaming myself for life's iniquities, she similarly closes her eyes to her own misguided feelings of guilt. Where I accept responsibility for causing the tragedies that circle around me like wastewater down a toilet, she feels equally responsible for curing all of man's ills. And she regrets her failures every bit as much as I regret mine. Scully is a healer who mistakenly believes no sickness or injury is too great for her doctor's hands. Disease and accident are her enemies and she fights them like a fearless warrior. Or a kamikaze pilot. She refuses to accept defeat. I'm lucky to have her on my side. After all, I'm her primary patient. She looks after me like an injured puppy. She continually patches my wounds, both external and internal. Body and soul. Propping me up time and time again, she doesn't abandon me to death or despair. My neediness keeps her at my side. She is too determined to step away and leave me untended. I'd like to think someday Scully would love me for the man I am, rather than the man I'm not. But if my weaknesses keep her with me, so be it. I'd rather have her by my side out of pity than not at all. And I am convinced mercy is the only reason she stays with me. Knowing myself as I do, how could I think otherwise? A sudden crash of metal and glass in the kitchen forces the air from my lungs as surely as a punch to the gut. Evidently, the worm has breached our second line of defense. Only one wall remains. "Scully..." I reach for her shoulder, wanting only to brush my fingertips across her arm and ensure her attention, but she's bending over Guifford, covering his mouth with her own. He's stopped breathing and she is trying to force life into him. She pinches his nose and expands his lungs with her own breath. In a practiced, fluid motion, she begins chest compressions. Each pump upon his chest is matched by a thundering wallop from the worm. Our fortress is crumbling. "Scully..." She won't quit. Eight minutes at least she expects to pummel Guifford's chest and fill his lungs before she will give up. For eight minutes, there still is hope. And Scully never turns her back on hope. The mother worm beats against the wall between us. The floor shakes. My dog-eared copy of 'Tremors' dances across the nightstand until it topples over the edge, pages fluttering as it falls. The lamp tips and sways. "Scully..." Another jolting blow. Dust from broken sheetrock billows like smoke around our heads. Scully counts silently and pumps, pumps, pumps. Breathes. I stagger to the window and jerk the sash upward. I toss the two backpacks of emergency supplies out into the snow. "Scully..." Pump. Pump. Pump. Beads of sweat dot her upper lip. Her beautiful red hair clings damply to her skin. Breathe. "Scully, we're out of time." I lift her from Guifford. She struggles against my hold on her, desperate to return to her task. I hang on tight, use my size and strength to enforce my will. "Scully, you can't save him." "Mulder, there's still a chance..." Tears of frustration fill her eyes. "There is *no* chance." I thrust her coat at her and propel her toward the small window. She fights me even as I hoist her to the sill. "Mulder, please--" "Scully, We have to go!" She drops to the ground outside the window. The wall behind me explodes, blasting me with debris. I haul myself through the window and fall into the snow beside Scully. Getting to my feet, I grab the two packs and Scully's good hand. Together, we run to the maintenance garage and the snowsleds. __________ Maintenance Garage 10:33 AM Jogging through the garage's open door, we're uncertain how much time we'll have or need. Scully's angry with me, of course, but I don't care. I just saved your life, Scully, and you'll thank me for it someday...if we live long enough to ever talk about it. I unscrew the gas cap on the nearest snowmobile. Hallelujah! The tank is full. Something's finally going right. Replacing the cap, I turn the key and start the engine. Yes! The Cat purrs to life. "Scully, get on." Not exactly surrendering, Scully merely postpones our battle of wills and straddles the sled. Her stern expression lets me know I'm not off the hook. Not by any stretch of imagination. Of course, I ignore her glower while I help her shrug into one of the backpacks. Slipping my arms through the straps of the second pack, I climb on the sled in front of her. Scully wraps her arms around my ribs and hangs on tight when I squeeze the accelerator, shooting the sled forward and carrying us out of the garage. I steer in a wide arc away from the living quarters and out of Station 6. As usual, I have no carefully considered plan of action. I'm operating on a pitiful combination of pure instinct and sheer terror, simply trying to save my sorry ass and hopefully Scully's pretty tush along with it. I twist to get a look at her behind me. Oh...no. A blizzard of snow billows upward from Station 6 -- a mini-tornado that can only be caused by the oncoming mother worm. In front of us, the frozen Yukon River carves a twisting trail into the white landscape. The Patton Bridge is barely visible a quarter mile away where it connects the north and south halves of Alaska's Dalton Highway. I try to remember what was on the map. Have I mentioned I'm not very good at reading maps? To be honest, I'm downright lousy at reading maps. Where was the nearest town? North? South? My doubt convinces me that west must be the real answer, despite the lack of road. It really doesn't matter. For now we need to put a few miles between us and the worm. Heading for the bridge, we travel roughly parallel with the zigzagging pipeline. We hit a series of icy ridges carved by blowing winds and I have to let up on the gas. The sled jogs roughly over the corrugated surface. A spray of snow detonates skyward with each bounce. I glance over my shoulder past Scully and see the worm is gaining on us. The massive animal moves like a freight train through the fresh snow. Nearing the bridge, I grip the gas and try to pick up more speed. The snowmobile slews dangerously sideways before the track catches and puts us back on course. Damn it! The worm is closing faster than the Concord on a couple of carrier pigeons. As for what to do next, I'm open to any and all suggestions. When we turn onto the bridge, the worm is no more than fifty yards behind us. We need to ditch the sled and take cover. And there's only one place for us to go. Never let it be said that Fox Mulder doesn't think fast on his feet. "Hang on, Scully!" I skid to a stop. "Mulder, what are you doing?" she shrieks. Behind us, the giant worm plows onto the bridge. "Over the side!" "Mulder, if we jump we'll die!" "We're not going to jump." I have one leg already over the rail. "We're just gonna hang out for awhile...underneath." She thinks I've gone insane, but that's not an unfamiliar thought so she follows me over the side. Just in time, too. The worm is skidding in our direction, churning up snow and shaking the bridge like the span is a half-mile long magic fingers bed. I wrap my legs tightly around a steel support and help Scully over the side. One-handed, she's having trouble climbing. Her injury gives me a rare opportunity to play the role of knight in shining armor. Since Scully practically never needs saving -- alien abductions aside -- my armor is more rusty than shining, but I'm quite capable of carrying her to the underside of this bridge. Heck, I've lifted case files that weigh more than she does. "Mulder?" She asks a thousand questions in the brief pronouncement of my name. "Put your arms around my neck," I tell her, hoping like hell this is one time she won't argue with me. She doesn't. Her arms embrace me. Christ almighty, Allah be praised, she's trusting me! We may die here today, but at least I'll go out looking like a hero. That's something. I shinny further down the support. Scully clings to my neck with a death grip that threatens to cut off my air supply. The bridge trembles from the rolling worm above. The thing is searching for us. I grab a metal truss and let go of the support with my legs. Scully and I swing dizzily beneath the bridge. "Mulder!" Scully gasps. "Don't look down." "Too late." "Under no circumstances describe to me what you saw." "Okay. I'm closing my eyes." "That's probably best," I agree when the enormous snout of the worm oozes over the side of the bridge. Blindly, it searches the air for us. Its head stretches, rises, falls, swings dangerously close. "Damn it," I mutter and move, one shaky hand at a time, away from the outer edge of the bridge. So okay, Scully may not weigh much, but our combined weights are a definite strain on my arms. Not to mention that my gloves are making it almost impossible to grip the truss. I almost lose my hold when the worm lifts its head skyward and then drops back onto the bridge with a bone-jarring thud. A barely discernable hum of alarm escapes Scully's throat. "Did I ever tell you I used to be the best rope climber in my gym class, Scully?" I lie. "N-no." "It's true." I inch further along the truss. If I can just make it another couple of yards, there's a crossbar where I can put my feet. The worm dangles its head over the side again. "I put the other kids to shame." "How old were you?" "Ten. But it's like riding a bike, Scully. You never forget how." "So you're saying it's all technique, not stamina?" "Any guy pushing forty will tell you that." The crossbar is still four feet away. The worm curls downward and thrusts its head deeply beneath the bridge. It almost touches me. "I'll bet you were good in gym yourself, Scully," I say, trying to distract us both. Three and half feet to go. "Yes. I did pretty well hanging onto the best rope-climbing boy in school. Oohh!" she blurts when the worm slaps against the road above us, vibrating the bridge and chattering our teeth. "Synchronized Rope Climbing. That's my favorite Olympic event, Scully." I can't quite plant my foot on the crossbar yet. My fingers are growing numb. The worm plunges its head back toward us, its mouth yawning open. In a last-ditch effort to escape its gaping jaws, I lunge for the crossbar. My snow covered boots slip, and Scully and I drop. "Oohh!" she cries again while I grab wildly for the bar. I manage to hook one arm over it. The metal truss cuts painfully into the crook of my elbow as we dangle over the frozen river seventy feet below. "Scully, c-can you reach the bar?" "Uh...I think so." I try to lift her toward the metal support with my free hand. She releases my neck with first one arm than the other, twisting and hauling herself slowly up over the truss. "You got it?" "Yes." She swings a shaky leg over the support. With her weight off me, I'm able to pull myself up onto the truss. We sit side-by-side, trying to catch our breath and not look down between our feet. Overhead, the worm thrashes, bouncing us. I begin to feel a little seasick. "Got any Dramamine on you, Scully?" "Sorry. Must have left it in my other purse. So what do we do now?" "Look out!" I shout. The worm dives at us, its mouth agape and its bristly jaws trembling. We stare wide-eyed into its dark throat. An overwhelming reek of digesting meat assaults us. My stomach threatens to heave when I realize I'm looking at bits and pieces of Stanley Philp still clinging to the beast's wiry internal flesh. Razor-sharp coils churn inside the mammoth worm's mouth, ready to shred and devour us. The deep slits made by Philp's ax drip slushy white liquid onto our thighs. The worm rolls. Its cavernous maw spirals around our heads. Then, with a jolt that threatens to knock us from our perch, the giant worm shudders, and loses its hold on the bridge. Its hulking body slides from the bridge, grinding across the pavement above our heads with a heart-pounding rumble. Gravity pulls the monster toward the river. Squirming in midair, the coiling giant plummets downward. When it hits the ice, its enormous body splits and bursts like a fifty-foot-long water balloon. A spew of milky white liquid shoots across the frozen river, saturating the snow. "Well...that was pretty cool, wouldn't you say, Scully?" __________ Patton Bridge 1:23 PM "Mulder, where is the snowmobile?" Scully asks, once we've managed to climb back up to the road. "Hmm. Could've sworn we parked it in the Minnie Mouse Lot." "That's not funny, Mulder." Hands on her hips, she scans the length of the bridge. She must really be ticked. Usually, she ignores my stupid remarks. We navigate around a series of snow banks, created by the flailing worm, and make our way to the opposite rail where together we lean over the side and peer down at the river. Yep. Seventy feet down, smashed to smithereens on the ice below, we see what can only be the shattered remains of an Arctic Cat snowmobile. Damn. "What now, Mulder?" "Nice day for a little stroll, don't you think, Scully?" "Which direction?" "West." I look toward the sun, already low in the sky, despite the early hour. Scully faces east. "You didn't happen to bring a map, did you, Mulder?" "As a matter of fact I did." I'm pretty pleased by my atypical forethought. I dig the map out of my pack and pass it to her. She carefully unfolds it and considers our options. "East," she proclaims. "Stevens Village is about twenty-five miles from here." "Twenty-five! Scully, it'll take a couple of days to walk twenty-five miles in this snow." "Well, we could always go back to the station to wait for the rescue helicopter instead. Connelly said annelids are hermaphroditic. It's possible the mother worm had no mate." Hmm. "East, Scully?" "It's the closest town, and we can find it by following the river." So, we head east along the frozen Yukon River. On foot. On snowshoes, actually. It's cold. Really cold. And considering I've been both figuratively and literally frozen before, well, suffice to say, I know cold when I feel it. And there is nothing on the planet frostier than Scully's current disposition. I look back at her. She's trailing me by fifty yards at least, her head down, trying to avoid being snow-blasted. She's watching her feet, careful not to stray from the disappearing tracks of my snowshoes. Maybe that's why she doesn't see the helicopter closing in on us from the west. The cavalry has finally arrived. __________ Fairbanks Hotel 7:25 AM Damn! My razor scrapes painfully across my frostbitten face. This might be a good time to try growing a beard. "Mulder?" "In the bathroom, Scully." "I knocked but you didn't answer," she says through the door. "Your door was unlocked, so..." "I'm just shaving, Scully. I'll be right out." "Okay." I run the razor over my jaw once more and decide to give up when I nick myself for the umpteenth time. I wipe the shaving cream from my face with a towel, leaving a hodgepodge of smooth and whiskered skin. I join Scully in the outer room. "Does frostbite leave permanent scars?" I run my fingers over my cheeks and down the length of my nose. "Only if you keep picking at it. Don't touch!" Peering into the mirror above the bureau, I squint at my blotchy skin. "Our plane leaves in forty-five minutes," I remind her. "Are you ready?" I can see that she is. Her suitcase rests beside mine next to the door. She sits on the bed thumbing through Connelly's notebook. "Looks like you were right, Mulder." Whoa! A man can't hear those words too many times. "What did you say?" I ask. "I said, it looks like... You know exactly what I said." I can't help but smile. "Right about what?" "A connection between the appearance of the snow worms and the red aurora." "Really?" "According to Connelly's notes, it's possible that telluric currents, the phenomenon that generates the Northern Lights, might also be responsible for awakening the worms from their periods of hibernation, prompting them to breed. He speculates the coil of abrasive digestive tissue may have something to do with the creature's sensitivity to the current's variations -- either in and of itself or by way of the metallic rock fragments embedded within the tissue. He postulates the worms' life cycles can be predicted. That the next influx of worms can be calculated by looking at past recorded occurrences of the red aurora." "The Field Office should be made aware of those notes, Scully. Lives could be saved, even if it's years down the road." "I already faxed a set of copies." "See? If you look at the big picture, maybe we did help our average with this case." "Maybe." She shrugs. I sit on the bed next to her. "We're not to blame for Guifford's death. Either one of us." "I know, Mulder. Really I do." I'm not convinced. I carefully lift her bandaged hand. She looks up at me, all of yesterday's anger gone. It's clear she doesn't hold me responsible for Guifford, despite the fact that I made her to leave him. Her face is beautiful. She looks exactly the way she did when she first gazed up at the red aurora. Maybe I should tell her how I really feel about her. Maybe. Maybe. "Scully...would you ever...um..." Geez, this is harder than I thought. Do it, I tell myself. Ask her. Now! "Would you consider marrying me?" A soft snort of laughter chuffs from her nose. She looks at me through her lashes and offers me a tiny smile. Her smile fades when she senses I'm serious. I try to think of a joke to restore the natural balance of our relationship, but my mind draws a blank. Her baby blues bore into me, digging for information. I swallow nervously. Her eyes flood with tears. Pity briefly visits her features before she controls her expression. At least, I think it's pity. Or maybe I'm only reading my own expectations into her reaction. "Are you proposing?" she asks, opening a door for my escape. I decide to ignore the exit. Only the status quo waits out there and frankly, I've grown weary of the status quo. "I'm asking if you would ever *consider* marrying me." Now she's all squinting suspicion, trying to decipher the trap I must be laying for her. "It's not a trick question, Scully. Not that I'd blame you if you answered no. I...I know you could do a lot better." Pity again. But maybe I forced that hand. "I don't think about us that way, Mulder," she says carefully, looking away. She's a terrible liar. Not as practiced as I am. "Come on, Scully. People assume we're married all the time. You must've thought about it at least once or twice." "Have you?" Damn, she's turned the tables on me. How is it I'm an expert at profiling everyone else in the world but I can't figure out what's in this one woman's head? Or more importantly, what's in her heart. Sure, she's always engaging in evasive maneuvers, but even so I should be able to uncover some small shred of insight, at least occasionally. The odds are on my side, if nothing else. "Yes." Ha! I decide to leave it at that. Let her try to figure out what I'm thinking for once. We stare at each other. A full minute passes. Another ticks by. This is excruciating. Fine, I can't beat her at this game. "I mean...I guess I picture you with someone else, Scully." Her eyebrow arches gracefully toward her hairline. "You do?" "Well...yeah...you know. Someone more...more..." "More?" What can I tell her? What should I tell her? Hell, I've buried more women than most of the serial killers we've chased. Scully's life is in danger every minute she's with me. She nearly died yesterday because she came with me on this damn monster hunt. "You saved my life yesterday," she suddenly says, as if reading my mind, successfully profiling the profiler. "I haven't thanked you yet." I just blink at her. Where I've been looking at the glass as half empty, she sees it as half full. She smiles. Squeezes my hand with her uninjured one. Plants a feather soft kiss on my lips. "Thank you, Mulder," she says and rises from the bed. "Come on. We don't want to be late for our flight." She tucks Connelly's notebook into her bag, crosses the threshold, and heads down the hall. Well, well. Our trip to Alaska has certainly exceeded my expectations, which were admittedly high from the start. Traveling to a far off place in search of a never-before-seen creature. Investigating an X-File that rivals the Loch Ness Monster, El Chupacabra, and Bigfoot. But the icing on the cake? The unexpected bonus? I rescued the woman I love from a giant snow worm, earning myself a heartfelt thank you and a kiss! My future...our future...is looking damn bright. THE END