From: mrkeller829@gmail.com   
      
   =====o============================o=====   
   "Chermera" by Mary Ruth Keller Part 13  of 45   
   E-mail: mrkeller@eclipse.net, mrkeller829@gmail.com   
   PG-13   X-File: Myth-arc   Disclaimed in Part I   
   Already sent to Gossamer   
   =====o============================o=====   
      
   Offices of the Lone Gunmen   
   Alexandria, VA   
   Monday, June 8, 1998   
   9:53 am   
      
   Dana Scully was the first of the partners through the door. After a quick nod   
   to Pendrell and Phillips, who were waiting on the sofa together, she turned to   
   Frohike, who was standing with a hand on the second of four deadbolt levers.   
   "We need a    
   cryptographically secure random number generator for these new documents."   
      
   As he slid past her into the room, Mulder, resting his palm on her back,   
   leaned over so only the three of them could hear his stage whisper. "You   
   really know the way to a guy's heart, Doctor."   
      
   The round-faced Gunman beamed. "That she does, Mulder."   
      
   Langly had begun typing furiously as the auburn-haired pathologist, Frohike   
   trailing behind her, marched into the workshop. "So, Doc, what will it be,   
   Monte-Carlo, Blum Blum Shub, or, my personal favorite, the Mersenne Twister?"   
      
   She crossed her arms as she leaned against the butcher-block. "Whatever works   
   best with small numbers. We don't need to go higher than the number of crates   
   in your secure facility."   
      
   Byers joined them, the Gunmen forming a loose triangle around the Agent.   
   "Okay. We can use three pseudo-random seeds. One will get us to the exponent   
   with normalization, one the mantissa, and one for whether we floor or ceiling   
   the rounding."   
      
   Scully was tapping the icon of the documents database on the screen. "We'll   
   need to do it twice, once for box number and once for the number of the   
   document inside each of the crates."   
      
   "Ooh!" Three male voices chorused.   
      
   She looked up at the brush on her shoulder. "Mulder?"   
      
   He cocked his head toward the living room, so she turned to step away. "Carry   
   on, Guys."   
      
   Byers shifted to give her room. "That we will, Agent Scully."   
      
   She tossed back. "Not Agent, not until tomorrow, at least."   
      
   The keyboard fell silent. "Doc? What do you mean?"   
      
   Her shoulders slumped. "I've had my badge and weapon seized until we turn over   
   the crates, and all their contents."   
      
   The partners suddenly found themselves surrounded, the Gunmen clustered   
   behind, while their two agents hovered before them.   
      
   Arthur Pendrell, his green eyes darkening, stood directly in front of her.   
   "Dana, when did this happen to you?"   
      
   Mulder edged closer to her shoulder. "We just came from the meeting with   
   Blevins."   
      
   Terry Phillips reached for her arm. "Ag-, Doctor Scully, why? What could you   
   possibly have done to bring this on?"   
      
   She blew out a breath. "I gave them an excuse, with the events of the   
   Courthouse bombing."   
      
   The bearded Gunman moved to her side. "But, you nearly died yourself! What   
   could be so important in these decades-old documents that they take your   
   badge?"   
      
   She turned in a half-circle, taking in the concerned faces around her. {I   
   really do have friends.} "Guys, that's what we need to find out. That's why we   
   needed the random number generator." She and Mulder quickly explained the plan   
   they had worked out,    
   concluding with, "We have to be certain the digital copies of the papers we   
   turn over are exact replicas of both levels of text. Exact. We won't be able   
   to consult them again." She met Terry's frown.  "Sorry to throw you in the   
   middle of this, Agent    
   Phillips. We were assuming we had more time, but, with the forces stacked   
   against us, we have learned we have to move quickly." She looked up at her   
   partner. "Mulder, there's something we need to discuss."   
      
   --o-0-o--   
      
   Offices of the Lone Gunmen   
   Alexandria, VA   
   Monday, 9:58 am   
      
   A click as the latch of the guest bedroom door engaged. The auburn-haired   
   pathologist had pulled out the ottoman to sit, while her partner remained   
   standing.   
      
   He leaned against the desk, nestled as close to her knees as he could settle   
   without touching her. "Okay, Scully, shoot."   
      
   She studied her hands for a moment before meeting his gaze, that was focused   
   and curious, partly amused. "We need to turn over *all* the documents in the   
   box with the single level of text on them, including the one that seemed to   
   trigger a reaction in    
   you, Mulder."   
      
   He slipped over to the bed to twist onto the mattress, resting his hands on   
   the raised mahogany foot-board. "*He* knows what's in that crate specifically,   
   so there's no point in causing a false positive if we can avoid it. Is that   
   what you're saying?"   
      
   Relieved he had seen through to the conclusion she had reached to agree, she   
   nodded. "It's the others we're unsure of, not that one." She tucked her hair   
   behind her ear. "I just hate to ask you to give away a piece of your Father   
   that brought you two    
   closer. Mom won't let me read Ahab's journals, and I wanted to at least be   
   able to touch the little bit of him remaining."   
      
   He shook his head. "That's okay. There's no question in my mind, between my   
   Dad and you, whom I need to hang onto." They held each other's gaze for a   
   quiet moment, before he stood while extending his long fingers toward the   
   entrance. "Let's get to it,    
   once and future G-woman."   
      
   --o-0-o--   
      
   Mayer Hall 4132   
   University of California at San Diego   
   Monday, 6:13 pm   
      
   Andrea waited for the woman behind the desk to speak. The stack of completed   
   exams lay untouched in front of Sandra, but her arms were crossed as she   
   frowned at the diagrams and phrases on the whiteboard.   
      
   After digging a green marker out of her desk drawer, the chestnut-haired   
   professor rose. "Okay. I think I see the problem here." She moved slowly,   
   almost in a stroll, to the whiteboard. "May I?" Her hand was extended, so   
   Rosen took a step back. "We're    
   missing links-" She circled names. "-here, here, and here." She capped the   
   marker. "Once we have data on the art deals, we can fill in the pieces, but we   
   don't have those right now." She returned to the desk. "Take what we learned   
   here back to you former    
   partner at the Bureau. Let's see what your bright boys and girls can come up   
   with."   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)