From: mrkeller829@gmail.com   
      
   =====o==============================================o=====   
      
   TITLE: "Chermera"   
      
   AUTHOR: Mary Ruth Keller   
      
   E-MAIL: mrkeller@eclipse.net, mrkeller829@gmail.com   
      
   DISTRIBUTION: Already submitted to Gossamer. This is a test    
   of the system. Complete versions of "Chermera" are already    
   at ao3 and ff.net. If this part shows up, I’ll post the    
   rest later today.    
      
   SPOILERS: The Third Season "Syzygy" and assorted prior    
   episodes.    
      
   RATING: PG-13 for violence, minorly for language   
      
   CLASSIFICATION: X - an X-File with the Conspiracy    
   intertwined   
      
   KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully Friendship, Fox and Samantha are    
   reunited   
      
   SUMMARY: Mulder and Scully return from Santorini to take    
   charge of their expanded X-Files organization, discovering    
   that the revelation of the existence of the shape-shifters    
   has changed the world in their absence. The Cigarette-   
   Smoking Man tries to rebuild the American Shadow government    
   as the other Organizations angle to take over power. Sandra    
   Ann Miller works with Jerry Donato to probe the death of    
   his former partner, finding that the investigation leads    
   across several oceans. The X-team finally takes on the    
   murder of Bill Mulder as a case, sending them deeper into    
   the past than either had thought possible.   
      
   DISCLAIMER(S): The characters and situations of "The X-   
   Files" are the property of Chris Carter, 1013 Productions,    
   and Fox Broadcasting. They are used without permission,    
   with no intent for profit, and with no intent of copyright    
   infringement. Any reproduction of this story must keep my    
   name and E-mail address attached, must have my prior    
   permission, and must not be for profit. Any other    
   characters or references the reader recognizes belong to    
   their respective creators or owners, are also used with    
   deep affection, and, no intent of copyright infringement.   
      
   =====o=============================================o=====   
      
   =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=   
      
   FAN-FICTION SPOILERS: "Sins of the Fathers," "Xibalba,"    
   "Twelfth Night," "Rustic Suite," "Time Out of Joint,"    
   "Passages in Memory," "Roman de la Pendrell," "Archaea,"    
   "Zurvan," and "Anath"; story follows directly after    
   "Anath."   
      
   NOTE TO THE READER: The stories listed above by Mary Ruth    
   Keller are all in a single universe, the "Kuxan Sum Cycle."    
   While each is an investigation that stands alone, they    
   should be read in the order given for the plot and    
   character developments to make the most sense.   
      
   That nonpareil ITC series "The Prisoner" is now, after    
   fifty-odd years, in the public domain, but credit where    
   credit is due. The themes and quotes from that incomparable    
   creation of the minds of the late Patrick McGoohan, George    
   Markstein, David Tomblin, and their creative team are used    
   here in worshipful reverence for true originality. Often    
   referenced, twice remade, but, never matched. My humble    
   offering is but a mere echo, NOT a crossover. Gratias tibi,    
   gentlemen.   
      
   =o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=   
      
   Chapter I - Arrival   
      
   -----o---------------------------------------------o-----   
      
   The Prisoner:  Get him!   
     Number Two:  I have taken his place. I am the new    
                  Number 2.   
   The Prisoner:  Get Number One.   
     Number Two:  As far as you're concerned, I'm in    
                  charge. What can I do for you?   
   The Prisoner:  Cobb!   
     Number Two:  What we do here has to be done. It's the    
                  law of survival. It's either them or us.   
   The Prisoner:  Imprison people? Steal their minds?    
                  Destroy them?   
     Number Two:  It depends on whose side you're on,    
                  doesn't it?   
   The Prisoner:  I'm on our side.   
     Number Two:  But we have to know where your    
                  sympathies lie.   
   The Prisoner:   You know where they lie.   
     Number Two:  (reads from report) Subject shows great    
                  enthusiasm for his work. He is utterly   
                  devoted and loyal. (stops reading) Is    
                  this a man who suddenly walks out?   
   The Prisoner:  I didn't walk out. I resigned.   
     Number Two:  People change. Is that it? Change    
                  of loyalty?   
   The Prisoner:  Not mine.   
     Number Two:  All very commendable. But that's practical.    
                  I'm interested in facts. Your only chance   
                  to get out of here is to give them to me.    
                  If you don't give them to me, I'll take   
                  them. It's up to you. Think about it.    
                  Good day, Number Six.   
   The Prisoner:  Number what?   
     Number Two:  Six. For official purposes, everyone has    
                  a number. Yours is Number Six.   
   The Prisoner:  I am not a number. I am a person.   
     Number Two:  Six of one, half a dozen of another.    
                  Good Day.   
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
                                                                                     
                                        "Arrival"   
      
   -----o---------------------------------------------o-----   
      
   Suola di Atene   
   Cambridge, England   
   Monday, June 1, 1998   
   11:59 pm   
      
   "Dal Riata is dead."   
      
   The pronouncement was benediction and warning, all at once.    
   No one stirred in the darkened room, not the turbaned    
   Pakistani, nor the weathered Inuit elder with hair as white    
   and long as that of the delicate Mandarin seer who sat    
   beside him. The speaker, his reddish-blond curls long since    
   bleached and thinned, bent to lower the sallow eyelids of    
   the slight woman, now still under linen and black wool. The    
   length of his years seemed to draw him down beside her as    
   he leaned over to place a brief, tender kiss on her    
   forehead, then he straightened, as if forcing eternity away    
   from him and the others gathered around.   
      
   His eyes passed unseeing over the sculpture mounted above    
   the bed, a bronze circle with wavy rays emanating from it.    
   The metal form was only slightly larger than the gold    
   outline of the same shape embroidered into the dark blanket    
   now being slid up over the woman's slack face. He paid no    
   attention to either disk, but not from lack of respect for    
   its craftsmanship and significance. He had seen this    
   artifact many times, in many places, over his long life. He    
   did not note that the waves alternated in length, one long    
   and one short, repeated endlessly around the circle, nor    
   did he bother to count the rays. He knew there were forty    
   here, as there were on every other depiction on the chairs,    
   walls, and doors of the Suola. Instead, he gazed downward,    
   propping both hands on a column of alder, letting one of    
   his thumbs stroke a Celtic lion carved there.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)