From: mrkeller829@gmail.com   
      
   =====o============================o=====   
   "Chermera" by Mary Ruth Keller Part 31  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=====   
      
   Marriot Sorrento Valley   
   San Diego, CA   
   Saturday, June 20, 1998   
   12:21 pm   
      
   Walter Skinner pocketed his cell phone. Sharon had been more than   
   understanding about his prolonged absence, but after too many separations for   
   his taste, he wanted her to know how much he appreciated her patience. He   
   checked the number on the room key    
   he had acquired the previous night, noting that he was two doors down and   
   across the hall from his agents. So much the better. While he had been   
   sufficiently jet-lagged to understand the desire for connection, he and Mulder   
   were different enough people    
   that he needed his own space. Once inside, he dropped the Foot Locker bag on   
   the bed closest to the door. This would have to do for fresh clothes until the   
   immediate crisis was past.   
      
   He considered ringing the dark-haired agent, but decided this news should be   
   delivered in person. After letting his own door swing closed, he made his way   
   to the tall man's room. "Agent Mulder?" He leaned against the steel before he   
   rapped. There was no    
   answer. Either he was out exercising, or the partners had set out tracking   
   down another lead. Three steps later, he was outside the adjacent entrance.   
   "Agent Scully?" She needed to rest, but he knew she would never shirk her   
   duties for reasons of injury    
   or fatigue. When he heard nothing inside, even after a few minutes of waiting,   
   he began walking back to his temporary quarters. Partway down the hall, he   
   stopped. He had heard a ripping pop, which told him someone within had heard   
   his query, so he turned    
   back. The barrel of a SIG-Sauer was projecting beyond the frame slightly.   
      
   "Sir!" The tall agent pushed his way through to hold the steel closed against   
   the frame, but not latched, behind him. "Sir?"   
      
   Skinner's eyes narrowed. "Agent Mulder?"   
      
   A huff, then the weapon was holstered. "Agent Scully's asleep. She doesn't   
   know I'm here." He checked back into the darkened room. "But, after yesterday,   
   I needed to keep watch. They're after her, Sir." The tenor was scratchy. "They   
   almost got her."   
      
   The Assistant Director offered a grim nod. "They'll come after both of you   
   now, Mulder." In times past, he would have dressed him down for the argument   
   Luther had intentionally revealed, but, no longer. The recrimination in the   
   dark-haired man's eyes had    
   told him there were no words he could toss out that his agent had not already   
   silently flung at himself in the darkness.   
      
   The younger man stepped away from the barrier, but left his fingers on the   
   lever. "Where does the investigation stand, Sir?"   
      
   "Into the attack on you two? Not where it ought to, Agent."   
      
   "Sir? Are you here?" A small hand was pulling the door away. "Mulder? Director   
   Skinner?" Dana Scully was just inside the entrance, checking their long,   
   blackened faces in turn. "What are you both doing here? What's happened back   
   at the Division?"   
      
   The bald Director's jaw set. "The Marshals have taken Luther, as well as the   
   ballistics evidence. The charges I filed have been dropped, at all levels."   
      
   The partners exchanged a glance before Mulder crossed his arms. "But, Sir,   
   Sergeant Johnson agreed we were to keep him for a few hours longer."   
      
   Skinner rubbed the sides of his nose under his glasses. "The matter was taken   
   out of his hands. Pierce went to the police chief."   
      
   "Without letting him know of the Bureau's involvement, I'm certain." Scully   
   adjusted the robe more firmly closed around herself. "Sir, have you spoken to   
   Senator Matheson? What does he advise? Can he help us here?"   
      
   He began with a shake of the bald head. "Not anymore, Agent Scully."   
      
   The tall agent began fidgeting. "Luther's gone."   
      
   Skinner set his teeth. "Of course, Agent Mulder. You were expecting the Smoker   
   to just let us keep him?"   
      
   "Sir," Scully interjected, "We think we have a plan for that."   
      
   The Assistant Director's dark eyes traveled from one drawn face to the other.   
   "I'm glad someone does."   
      
   She stepped back so they could both enter. Once the door was closed, she spun.   
   "What can you tell us about Rob Shiffeln's abilities?"   
      
   The bald Director regarded them both somberly. "He hasn't given up on his   
   efforts to convince you two to let him go undercover with the Smoker, has he?"   
      
   Two heads, turning from side to side.   
      
   "If anyone could pull it off, he could. He's one of the Bureau's best covert   
   operatives, when he puts his mind to it. But, he'll have to be extensively   
   briefed."   
      
   Scully regarded her supervisor carefully. "Will you be participating in that,   
   Sir?"   
      
   Skinner took off his glasses. "Yes, Agents. I will. I want both of you there   
   as well. It's time you knew what I did. All of it, for what little good it   
   will offer. Agent Scully?"   
      
   She had been padding to the small closet by the bathroom. "I'll just be a   
   minute." She turned back to him. "Unless we should wait for you to catch a few   
   hours, Sir?"   
      
   Mulder began walking toward his partner. "Scully, you should get some more   
   rest."   
      
   She cocked an eyebrow at him. "I feel better. I can catch up tonight, Mulder.   
   This is too important."   
      
   Skinner reached for the door lever. "Agreed, Agent Scully, on both counts. We   
   need to do something to unsettle that old spy. I'll meet you out front after a   
   quick shower." The younger man began to speak, but the Director held up his   
   hand. "I have my own    
   room, Mister Mulder, two doors down. Be ready."   
      
   The tall agent moved to stand beside his partner. "We will be, Sir."   
      
   --o-0-o--   
      
   Fenleyding, Northumbria   
   Saturday, 6:01 pm   
      
   Alex Krycek dropped a opened codex on the desk in front of the Suebi, the   
   stiff parchment flapping as it landed. "Tell me about this ritual." He pointed   
   to a title in Gothic handwriting.   
      
   The long nose turned up to him. "That has not been used in centuries. I'm   
   surprised there are even written descriptions."   
      
   The dark-haired man extended a folded sheet toward him. "Then, how did this   
   get in there?"   
      
   Age-spotted hands took the paper. On one side was a typewritten copy of the   
   text in the Codex, with written annotations above. Under each line,   
   astronomical symbols ran. The Suebi smoothed back his white hair. "I recognize   
   the handwriting, but not the    
   symbols. This was written by the Atrebates of the Slav. He would often take   
   notes for her and pass them on to me, if it was important. Why was he reading   
   this? And when?"   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)