From: char@chaffin.com   
      
   ROCKY MOUNTAIN INTERLUDE, Prologue   
   By Char Chaffin and Tess   
   MSR, Casefile, AU   
   Rating:  Strong R   
   Spoilers:  FTF, Most of Season Seven   
      
   Disclaimers:  Clones on Loan   
      
   Thanks:  To Sallie, Carol and Teresa for beta above and beyond the   
   call of duty; to Robin, Donna, AlyC and Shelba for preview and   
   advice!  Ladies, you're the tops!   
      
   Summary:  While vacationing in Colorado Mulder and Scully uncover   
   disturbing evidence that reflects the history of the alien virus -   
      
   **************************   
      
      
   Prologue   
      
   Miller's Gold Mine Company   
   Millersburg, Colorado   
   1860   
      
      
      
   "Ben, make sure ya got that fuse long enough."  Jack Sawyer leaned   
   over to check the placement of the dynamite.   
      
   "Got it," Ben Nulty grunted.  He ran his finger along the length of   
   fuse dangling down the rock wall.  "Plenty of time for even an old   
   geezer like you t' run outta here."  He faked a grimace as the older   
   man cuffed him lightly across the back of the head.   
      
   "Show some respect for your elders, boy!"   
      
   "Yeah, yeah." Ben pushed himself to his feet and grinned impudently.   
   "Ya ready?"   
      
   Jack nodded and struck a match against the rocks.  "Fire in the   
   hole!" he shouted as he touched the flame to the end of the fuse.   
   Both men whirled and ran into the next chamber.  They joined two   
   other miners who were crouched behind a rocky outcropping for safety.   
   Seconds later the chamber shook from the force of the distant   
   explosion and dust filled the air.  Coughing, the men cautiously   
   stepped out from behind the protective barrier.   
      
   One of the younger men - a boy actually no more than sixteen years   
   old - moved toward the site of the explosion.   
      
   "Hold on there, Bobby."  Jack reached out and grabbed the young man   
   by the arm. "Don't be in such an all-fired rush."   
      
   "What're we waitin' for?" the boy asked.   
      
   Ben leaned against the wall and shook his head.  "Kids," he muttered.   
      
   "What are you talking 'bout?" Jack laughed.  "You can't be no more   
   than a coupla years older than Bobby, here."   
      
   "Few months down in this hole ages a man beyond his years," mumbled   
   the fourth miner.   
      
   Jack and Ben grinned appreciatively.   
      
   "What we're waitin' for is the dust to clear and t' give the   
   mountain a minute or two to settle before we go runnin' back in   
   there."  Jack stabbed a finger toward the chamber where the explosion   
   had occurred.  "Don't wanna be runnin' into a place where rocks are   
   still fallin' down on your head," he explained.   
      
   Bobby's eyes widened and he leaned back against the wall,   
   unconsciously mimicking the older men's stances.   
      
   A few more minutes passed and Jack deemed it safe enough to return   
   to work. Silently, the men tossed their picks and shovels into a   
   couple of wheelbarrows and followed him through the tunnel.   
      
   Several hours passed as the men cleared the debris left from the   
   explosion. They strained their backs under the heavy weight as they   
   lifted large chunks of rock littering the floor of the chamber into   
   wheelbarrows.   
      
   Jack straightened up and pressed his hands against the small of his   
   back, heaving a tired sigh.   Taking a drink of water from his   
   canteen, he grimaced at the warm, stale taste.  He pulled a watch   
   from his pocket and flipped open the cover, squinting in the dim   
   light to see the time.   They had been working for over ten hours now.   
      
   "Not long till quittin' time, boys," he called out as he tucked the   
   watch away.   
      
   He hefted a long iron pole in his callused hands and went back to   
   work at moving a particularly large and stubborn rock out of the way.   
   He and Ben strained, pitting their strength against the rock and were   
   rewarded when it finally shifted away from the wall.   They dropped   
   the pole and the two men set to work at breaking the rock into   
   smaller pieces.   
      
   An hour later, Jack heaved the last chunk of broken rock into the   
   wheelbarrow and nodded to Bobby who wheeled the load away.   
      
   "What's this?"  Jack turned to see Ben looking at something on the   
   ground.  He joined the younger man who had dropped down onto his   
   haunches.   
      
   "Looks like some kind of oil," Ben mused as he dipped his fingers   
   into the sticky, black substance that had been revealed with the   
   removal of the debris.   
      
   Jack lowered a lantern and peered closely at the black puddle that   
   seemed to seep up from the ground.   
      
   "Never seen nothin' like it," he grunted as he pushed himself back   
   to his feet.  "There's all kinds of minerals and stuff down here.   
   Whatever it is, there don't seem to be a lot of it," he murmured,   
   noting the small size of the puddle.   
      
   A shrill whistle sounded in the distance.   
      
   "Time to go home," Jack smiled.  "I'm gonna get some dinner, kiss my   
   wife and kids and get some sleep," he groaned as he clapped a hand on   
   Ben's shoulder.  "Let's go, boy."   
      
   Ben glanced up and then back down at the small pool of the dark   
   matter.  "Is it just me," he asked, "or does this stuff look like   
   it's moving?"   
      
   Jack laughed.  "Probably just the light and shadows playing with   
   ya."  He reached out a hand to grab the younger man's arm and pull   
   him to his feet.   
      
   "Come on," he urged.  "Jenny and that baby o' yours are gonna be   
   wonderin' where you are if you don't hurry up.  And wipe that stuff   
   off before you get it on me.  These're new britches and Mary just   
   made me this shirt.  If I come home with an oily mess on me, she'll   
   shoot me!"   
      
   Ben nodded and wiped his soiled hands on his shirt as he followed   
   Jack through the tunnels and up to the surface.   
      
   ************   
      
   The next morning, Jenny Nulty gathered up her husband's dirty   
   clothes from the chair near their bed and threw them into a basket.   
   She paused to check on the sleeping baby lying in a cradle near the   
   stove and then carried the laundry outside, leaving the door open so   
   that she could hear the baby.   
      
   She pulled Ben's work clothes from the basket.  She plunged a shirt   
   into the water of the washbasin and then ran a bar of soap over the   
   wet material.  As she scrubbed the shirt against the washboard, her   
   thoughts turned to her husband.  He had awakened, complaining of a   
   headache and an unsettled stomach.  She had wanted him to stay home   
   from work, but he had brushed off her concerns and set off for the   
   mine, reluctant to risk losing his job.   
      
   Jenny sighed as the dark stain on Ben's shirt stubbornly refused to   
   come out. She ran her fingers over the stain and frowned at the tacky   
   feeling substance. She rubbed the material harder against the   
   washboard, scrubbing until her arms ached with the effort and still   
   the stain refused to budge.   
      
   "Oh well," she grimaced. "It's just gonna get dirty again."  She   
   wrung the excess water from the shirt and clipped it to the   
   clothesline.  Turning back to the washbasin, she stumbled and almost   
   fell.  Looking down to see what had caused her to trip, she found a   
   twenty-pound bag of feed for the chickens lying on the ground.  She   
   planted her hands on her hips and heaved out an annoyed sigh.  Why   
   would Ben set the bag in the middle of the yard?  As she contemplated   
   just leaving the bag there until her husband came home, she noted   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)