From: mrkeller829@gmail.com   
      
   =====o============================o=====   
   "Chermera" by Mary Ruth Keller Part 44  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=====   
      
   House Derwbryn   
   Llangollen, Denbighshire, Wales   
   Friday, August 7, 1998   
   11:21 am   
      
   Albert Hosteen laid down his pen. "That is all. If that White Man is still as   
   clever as he was when I knew him, he would do well to be afraid. His secrets   
   are in here, as there are of many others."   
      
   "Who are now dead, Albert." Scully eyed him soberly. "But, there was enough in   
   there on the Europeans to give us a start."   
      
   The white-haired Dine was staring out the floor to ceiling windows. "Such   
   green land. Why would anyone ever want to leave?"   
      
   Dafydd ap Gwinn, his gaze still on Scully, smiled from his perch in the   
   corner. "It was not always thus. The coal did much damage to beautiful Cymru,   
   the English before that-"   
      
   "And the Vikings before that." Mulder offered a small grin to Albert. "You son   
   has been walking for miles and miles. We've barely seen him."   
      
   "Indeed. We have ancestors here, from a woman in our past, so he is searching   
   for where they lived. I hope he finds what we are seeking." Albert eyed the   
   dark-haired agent. "You have found your truth, then, FBI man?"   
      
   Mulder knew he could contribute next to nothing to the technical aspects of   
   decryption and documentation. Instead, he had been leaning against the   
   fireplace, watching his partner typing and reading, relieved she had been   
   moving without pain for the past    
   day or so, amused each time she pushed her lengthening auburn curls back under   
   her knit cap to keep them off her forehead. "For some things. For others,   
   these documents just revive questions we thought we had answered."   
      
   "We wouldn't want all the answers, Mulder, or else we would have no reason to   
   keep looking." The partners exchanged a glance.   
      
   "But you, FBI Woman, you are still seeking your truth."   
      
   She sighed. "I am. But, it isn't here." She tapped the papers in front of her.   
   "This verified some of my memories, but not all of them. I'm concerned about   
   putting this information on the Web, Mulder."   
      
   He settled beside her. "Because there are living persons mentioned in it?"   
      
   She shook her head. "No, they have a right to know. But, what's here on the   
   Europeans, that should be held back, or else they will just terminate the   
   operations mentioned here and we won't have anything to follow." She lifted a   
   page. "Look, here in the    
   Orkneys, for instance."   
      
   Albert smiled as he nodded to someone behind her.   
      
   Mulder smirked. "Scully, it's your admirer. Ieuan's back."   
      
   She favored him with a quick eye-roll. "Mulder, I don't have admirers." She   
   tapped the papers. "I think- What?" She swiveled in her chair. "Oh."   
      
   "Yes, you do, Riata." Ap Gwinn offered the silent form a wave.   
      
   "Now that spirit is at peace." Albert nodded. "He is going."   
      
   Mulder leaned into her gaze. "What did you see, Scully?"   
      
   Her forehead wrinkled. "There was something shimmering behind me. It must have   
   been the light from the window interacting with airborne particulates."   
      
   "Must have been," the tall agent agreed amiably.     
      
   Frohike stepped into the room. "Guys, there's been a lot of traffic back and   
   forth across the Pacific. The Osaka group is preparing some kind of shipment,   
   but they're not giving out details on what and when."   
      
   Scully typed several commands on the laptop, then a separate X Window popped   
   up on the screen. "Then, give me an encrypted file, and I'll pass it on in an   
   e-mail to Nichols."   
      
   Frohike waved a gloved hand. "Already done, Agent Scully. I just wanted to let   
   you guys know."   
      
   Ap Gwinn released a long sigh. "I'll miss this, Riata."   
      
   She turned to look up at him. "Oh, we'll be back. You've been a delightful   
   host, Cymru, but there is much we still need to follow up on."   
      
   He was standing over her. "You must come to the Suola, you and the Atrebates.   
   You have returned Brother Suebi to us, and we need to offer you our   
   gratitude." He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.   
      
   She glanced at her partner, before shaking her head. "That will have to be in   
   the future, Cymru. Right now, there is work we need to do back in the States."   
   Her gaze shifted to the opening to the hallway at the soft sound of   
   approaching feet.   
      
   A few moments later, a black-haired man stepped in. "I have found records, but   
   that is all. I have no sense of her, in any of the places I have walked."   
      
   Albert nodded. "That is enough. We will leave this green land and take what we   
   have learned home."   
      
   "After lunch," ap Gwinn protested. "We will make your travel plans after   
   lunch."     
      
   --o-0-o--   
      
   Suola di Atene   
   Cambridge England, UK   
   Sunday, August 9, 1998   
   7:02 pm   
      
   "We are many, we are one!" The Pict raised his cane in triumph.   
      
   "We are many, we are one!" Thirty-eight voices returned.   
      
   Leaning on his lion, the Pict turned to the Brother on the other side of the   
   dais. "Brother Cymru, how goes it with the Riata? Will she be joining us?"   
      
   Ap Gwinn bowed deeply, issued the incantation, then sighed. "She is with us in   
   spirit, Brother Pict."   
      
   "But not in the flesh. Not visible." His green eyes closed. "She is always   
   with us, in the Spirit."   
      
   "Shall we remove the chalk banner?" The Slav remained in her seat adjacent to   
   the Riata's.   
      
   "We shall, Sister." The Suebi smiled at her suggestion. "She survived the   
   initiation of Gradus Absoluta. She saved me. She will be with us in the   
   flesh." He rose before bowing to the men on the dais. "Come, Brothers. Let us   
   make her high seat ready." He    
   stood behind the tall back, as the Cymru descended to wait by the front.   
   Between them, they lifted the long white strip of satin draped from the floor   
   in the back to in the front, folded it, then linked arms in a Roman handshake.   
      
   "It is good we were not called to lay this on your seat, Brother. You bring   
   much to the Fellowship."   
      
   The Suebi bowed his long head. "Now we have hope."   
      
   The Cymru carried the banner up the stairs before sliding it into the Pict's   
   waiting hands. The older man placed a gentle kiss on the fabric, then the   
   gleaming white disappeared behind a black granite lid, inscribed with a circle   
   and forty wavy rays. A    
   momentary reflection as the polished surface lowered cast out an image in   
   reverse, the sun outline a dark inscription on blinding light. "The Riata has   
   returned to us!"   
      
   "We are many, we are one!" The incantation echoed resoundingly off the paneled   
   walls.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)