From: melannen@yahoo.com   
      
   TITLE: Conflict of Interest   
   FANDOM: X-files/ political fic crossover   
   AUTHOR: Melannen@yahoo.com   
   ARCHIVE/FEEDBACK: Yes please. This has real people, so I don't   
   think Gossamer will take it, though, sadly.   
   KEYWORDS: Mytharc. Crossover. Marita/Alex romance.   
   SPOILERS: All Mytharc. The G. W. Bush administration.   
   RATING: Call it PG, for politics, evildoers and kissing   
   LENGTH: 2500 words   
   Disclaimer: X-Files characters and concepts belong to FOX   
   corporation. Other people who appear are used in the spirit of   
   parody.   
   Notes/Summary: Remember the old, innocent days, when people were   
    looking forward to an administration of honesty and openness   
    and the most we had to worry about was arsenic in our drinking   
    water? Yeah, me too. The science here is dodgy but plausible;   
    the mytharc stuff is mostly right out of The Truth; the   
   politics are as bipartisan  as I could possibly get, and I'll   
   hopefully end up writing something equally cynical about President   
   Kerry.   
      
   Conflict of Interest   
    or, That Explains A Lot   
      
   February, 2001   
   Washington, DC.   
      
   Marita stepped into the spacious, round room, keeping her   
   business face on, as Dick dealt with the security people and   
   shut the door behind them. The office was sunny and airy; its   
   new occupant had swept it clean of his predecessor's overstated   
   elegance, and Marita felt far too exposed in the Southwestern   
   warmth of it.   
      
   The man himself was slouched behind his desk, absorbed in   
   something on his laptop; he'd shown no sign of noticing their   
   arrival until Dick went to him and tapped his shoulder. "George?   
    The UN person is here."   
      
   George sat up straight, closed the laptop with a click, and gave   
    her a boyish, friendly smile. "How d'you do, ma'am? Pleased to   
    meet you."   
      
   Marita took the hand he'd offered and shook. "Marita Covarrubias,   
   sir. And may I say it's an honor? I'm glad to see that all our   
   hard work getting you into this office has paid off."   
      
   Dick, standing behind him, caught the implication of that and   
   glanced sharply at her. George just grinned, sincerely pleased.   
   "Well, that's very kind of you, Miss Cova-- Cov-- d'you mind if   
   I call you Ruby? So how are things back at the UN?"   
      
   Marita smiled thinly and seated herself in one of the chairs.   
   "Well, sir, I have to be honest with you: I'm not here today   
   simply in my capacity as a United Nations employee."   
      
   "Oh? Just come by to check out the new boss?"   
      
   "George," Dick muttered, "Listen to her. This may be the most   
   important meeting you'll ever have."   
   "Thank you, Mr. Vice President," Marita said, "Although I hope   
   that's not true, it is vital that you understand what I have to   
   tell you. Mr. President, along with my career at the UN, I work   
   for a secret organization which sometimes refers to itself as   
   the Syndicate. We work both within and in loose association with   
    the federal government in an effort to eradicate the greatest   
   threat this nation, indeed, our world, has ever faced."   
      
   George shook his head, eyes sparkling with good humor. "A vast   
   secret conspiracy? You gotta be kidding me."   
      
   "I suppose you could call us that," Marita said, "But we have no   
    desire for power or anything beyond our single purpose, and the   
    secrecy is absolutely necessary. We prefer to think of ourselves   
   as merely a group of concerned citizens who sacrifice ourselves   
   to do things which are necessary, but which this government, by   
   its very nature, cannot."   
      
   "And what is this shadowy, evil threat you're fighting?"   
      
   "Alien invaders." She raised a hand to curtail his inevitable   
   protests. "I realize it sounds implausible, sir, but as long as   
   Americans can sleep safely in their beds, believing that the   
   biggest threat they face is a few pissed-off fanatics with a   
   bomb, my organization is doing its job. I have here," she reached   
    into her briefcase and pulled out the dossiers, "over fifty   
   years' worth of records and evidence, which we invite you to   
   check at your leisure."   
      
   George looked at the stack of folders she'd dropped on his desk   
   as if he were afraid they were going to bite. Dick stepped up   
   and broke the silence. "I've seen the evidence, George. It's all   
   true. They're really out there."   
      
   George glanced from one of them to the other, then back again,   
   and visibly pulled himself up. "Okay then. Alien invaders. So,   
   what are we doing to stop them? And why haven't I heard any of   
   this before now?"   
      
   Marita shook her head. "It's not that simple, sir. As to why   
   this wasn't mentioned in the transition, your predecessor never   
   got this briefing. We didn't believe his administration could be   
   trusted to do what was necessary to win the war, or to understand   
   that certain things need to be kept secret for the sake of   
   national security and the sake of everyone's peace of mind."   
      
   George preened, flattered by the implied compliment. Marita   
   leaned toward him, intense. "This isn't going to be like   
   _Independence Day_, Mr. President. It won't be as easy as setting   
    off a few bombs or letting a hastily programmed anti-virus do   
   our work for us. The enemy are immeasurably older and more   
   powerful than we are; they have the resources of a galaxy behind   
   them; they have infiltrated our society at every level. They are   
   capable of subverting anyone; they can take over a human's body   
   or shapeshift or kill by a thousand methods we barely understand.   
   They're completely evil and completely beyond our comprehension.   
   There can be no treaty and no compromise. They created us to be   
   a slave race, tens of thousands of years ago; they ruled the   
   world absolutely then, and they will again. No human agency can   
   stop them."   
      
   She had expected disbelief, fear, anger, or ridicule; but instead   
   he was frowning in thought. "If they're so unstoppable, and they   
   ruled the world a long time ago, why aren't they still in charge?"   
      
   He'd caught the gap in the logic, then, and quickly. He wasn't   
   nearly as stupid or inflexible as he gave the impression of   
   being. Good. Marita felt herself relaxing, truly optimistic for   
   the first time in years. "I said that no human agency could stop   
   them, Mr. President. The first time, it wasn't humans; it was   
   the earth itself. Their biggest weakness is cold; we humans can   
   survive with relative comfort in temperatures that kill the   
   alien organisms outright. That is our only hope, sir, our only   
   strategy that offers a real chance of victory-- we have to induce   
   a new ice age."   
      
   George was clearly fascinated; he gestured eagerly to her, while   
   Dick stood protectively behind. "And how do we do that?"   
      
   "Our original plan, for the first twenty years or so of our work,   
   was nuclear winter. The Syndicate was formed after WWII; you   
   understand the fascination we had then. But it became clear that   
   would be a Pyrrhic victory at best; we would be as weakened by   
   the radiation as the aliens would be by the cold, so since the   
   late sixties that has been relegated to our last-ditch backup   
   plan. We're currently attempting a more gradual method, by   
   increasing the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.   
   By the calculations of our scientists, who are significantly   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)