THE X-FILES "AROUND THE WORLD IN TWELVE MONTHS" PART ONE 'A DAY WITH DOLPHINS' By Alien Girl Classification: Adventure, Mulder/Scully Romance Rating: PG Spoilers: None Archive Info: Anywhere, anyway, and anyhow...as long as my name and e-mail are attached. Disclaimer: THEY'RE ALLLLLLLLL MINE!! BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!! I wish...actually, they're all Chris Carter's, 1013's and Fox Network's. Life is *not* fair...we spend all our time writing out our own original stories, and then CC steals 'em and makes everyone think they're his own!! (I really think he does that...somehow.) One thing, though...Troi Anne Carter is, of course, Riva's and you'd have to ask her if you wanted to use Troi. All other minor characters are mine. Song Disclaimer: That's right, everyone! Intro songs are back for the sequel!! Since this series is so much longer than the first, I'm only doing intro songs and not conclusion ones. Just as the series themselves goes, these songs are going to be much more happy and cheerful as opposed to the sad and angsty songs of "Accumulation". I'm also doing something different: I'm going to somehow put each song into the story itself. Each song is romantic, but will at least have something to do with the place they are going or an event that happens. The song for part one is "Here Comes the Sun", performed by the Beatles. It was originally going to be the exit song for "The Awakening", but I decided to move it up here. There's another song I added in here, but I don't know what it's called, or who wrote it, just know that it ain't mine. Summary: The Syndicate has been exposed...the black oil aliens have been stopped...the world is safe...Samantha is back...and Mulder and Scully are together for good......how about a world cruise? Keywords: Adventure, Mulder/Scully Romance. Feedback: YESOHYESOHYESOHYESYESYES!!! Feed me feedback!! Author's Notes: I know that I'm kinda rushing into this story, but oh well... This is part one of a twelve part series I'm planning to do. I don't know much about boats and sailing, so some of my descriptions may be wrong, but that's okay. "Around the World in Twelve Months" is a sequel series to the "Accumulation" series. PLEASE READ "ACCUMULATION" FIRST!!!! IT WILL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING HERE!!! So, as "Accumulation" is Riva and mine's five-part series that we think should be the best series finale for the show, these stories are what comes afterwards. This series is also supposed to be much more humorous and adventurous and romantic, while "Accumulation" is much more angsty and serious. I know, I'm writing this before we've even finished part two of "Accumulation", but with luck, we'll have it done by the time this story actually gets on the web. (I hope...) On with the show!!! --------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- "Here Comes the Sun" Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, And I say, it's alright. Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, And I say, it's alright. Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, And I say, it's alright. Sun, sun, sun, here it comes. (Repeat 4x) Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting Little darling, it feels like years since it's been clear. Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, And I say, it's alright. Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, It's alright, It's alright. -------------------------------------------------------- ***********Around the World in Twelve Months************ -----------------'A Day With Dolphins'------------------ .....................By Alien Girl...................... 4:25 P.M. Monday, July 5th, 1999 Chesapeake Bay Dock Fox Mulder gazed up at the great white disc in the sky as it poured its brilliant rays of radiation over him. He shaded his eyes against the sun, then turned to watch two men carry several large boxes up a nearby gangplank and onto the enormous houseboat that loomed over them. 'The Believer' was painted on the ship's bow in bright black and gold letters. Mulder smiled. Samantha had thought of the name. The boat practically sparkled with fresh new white paint. The glass windows caught the sun's rays in a fistful of rainbows and the boat's flags fluttered in the slight ocean breeze. The scent of the salt sea air drifted in and reached his nostrils. He breathed it in deeply, then let it out slowly. Right now, it felt wonderful to be alive. "Mulder!" The sound of Dana Scully's voice woke him from his trance. She was striding in his direction, her hair rustling in the wind. She smiled broadly as she came up to him. "Quit your daydreaming. We're casting off in an hour or so. And there's still packing to do and people to say goodbye to." He grinned. "Do we *have* to say goodbye?" "Yes...we're not going to be back for a *year*, remember." "A year on a boat...don't remind me." "It was your idea." "No, it was your mom's. I just didn't want to disagree with her." "*Sure* you didn't." The dock that Mulder and Scully stood on was crowded with people. Seamen that were helping to load the ship scrambled back and forth with cargo. Other people were giving directions, complements and farewell wishes to the little party that was to set out on 'The Believer'...Mulder, Scully, Margaret, Tina, Samantha, and a very excited Troi. It been just a little over a month since the biggest event of Mulder and Scully's lives had come to an end...a month since Scully, with the help of her friends, had exposed the Syndicate and destroyed all of the black oil aliens before they invaded earth, a month since Samantha had returned and explained everything that had happened to her, and to Scully, for the past six years. It had been a long, wearisome two months, as Scully recalled her nights on the run from Cancer Man's hit men and the big chase through Base 3 in Michigan that had taken place just a day before the Date. Mulder had memories, too...but he almost never talked about it. Whenever Troi asked, Mulder would either clam up or change the subject. Scully had learned that the memories he had of those long weeks in April and May were too much for him to bear, and that he didn't want to discuss them. Scully was not even sure he could if he tried. And now that it was all over, the government, (the part that hadn't been in league with the Syndicate,) had given them an enormous amount of money and savings for, basically, saving the world from alien invasion, along with a promotion for both of them and everyone else helping them at the FBI. Mulder and Scully, along with a bit of coaxing from Margaret, Samantha and Troi, had decided to use part of the money to buy the houseboat that Margaret had been planning to buy....and use it for a cruise around the world. Ever since the night before the big chase, the night when Scully had had the dream, Mulder and Scully knew that they were destined for each other, and that they both loved each other more than anything in the world... At first there was talk of marriage, but they decided to put off the decision until after the trip. This was mostly because they were unsure if the bureau would allow them to continue to work together if they were husband and wife, although Skinner had promised that he would try to get it OKed. It was a rather aggravating situation, especially since after all that had happened, and everything they had realized...that even now, there was little they could do about it. And even if they were allowed to get married and work together, Scully knew that Mulder would certainly not enjoy his job as much, now that the X-files were closed for good. It was a difficult choice that neither of them wanted to make right now. But right now, they were only going to concern themselves with the trip. It was all planned out. The cruise would take about a year, give or take a week, and would take the group across the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans, while they stopped at whatever countries were in between. They had already decided that they would stop somewhere in the islands of the Caribbean as their first stop, although it took Mulder some convincing that they *weren't* going through the Bermuda Triangle. Margaret, who was basically the director of the project, thought they should also stop somewhere in South America, Africa, Europe, Egypt, India, Australia, Japan, Mexico, and wherever else they happened upon, although all these destinations were yet to be decided. When Scully asked why they didn't have a definite plan as to where they were going, her mom just replied, "Think of it as one big adventure. We'll just go wherever the wind takes us." "I think I've had my share of adventures," She had answered. Both Mulder and Scully, although they pretended to be bored about the whole thing, were extremely delighted that they were taking the trip - it would be the best way to catch up on everything that they had lost over the past six years, and especially the past couple of months. After six years of fighting and searching and desperately seeking the truth, they had finally got the vacation they needed, that they deserved. A year's worth of relaxation to make up for six years of tireless working. Many were there to see them off, including many people of the FBI, and friends of the group of six. But espically, there was Skinner, Byers, Langley, Frohike, Holly, Gibson Praise, Alyssa Caitren, Gerret Corban, and Jacob Grant, who of course had helped Scully in her crusade against the Syndicate. They had organized the farewell party, and were kept busy giving their wishes to Mulder, Scully, Troi, Samantha, Tina and Margaret. Alyssa was delighted that Mulder and Scully were finally getting a chance to be together after all they had been through, although the Lone Gunmen were dismayed as to the fact that they couldn't come along. "How could you *do* this to us? Look at me, I even got wounded in the line of duty! If it weren't for me, none of us would be here right now!! And this is how I get repaid for my efforts? There is no justice in this world, I tell you!" Frohike paced the dock, wailing over and over again about the unfairness of it all. Everyone just basically ignored him. Skinner was in the middle of a conversation with Mulder. "Well, Agent Mulder, I think they've got the remainder of your luggage on board. I must admit, it's going to be pretty quiet at the bureau without you guys around." "And you're sad about this?" Mulder joked. "Well, it's just that I'll have to spend all day listening to Kerch complain about how unjustified his 'reassignment' and my promotion is." "Why didn't they just kick him out like Diana Fowley and Jeffery Spender?" "Good question. Wish I had a good answer." "Besides, you're certainly not going to be bored. You've got a lot of responsibilities now, being Section General and all." Skinner smiled. "All's well that ends well. Are you sure you're going to be alright out there on the open sea? I know you're not much of a seaman, Mulder. And since you're the only man aboard, they're going to be expecting you to do all the man's work." "Mrs. Scully can steer. I'll just read the compass or something." "Are you sure you can even read a compass, Agent Mulder?" "Very funny, sir." "You'll drop us all a line, won't you?" "Whenever we get to the Caribbean, we'll send everyone a message. It should take us quite a few days to get there, you know. I think we'll be stopping in Florida before we actually get out there, though." "Hey, Mulder," Byers called from behind. "You changed your mind yet?" Mulder grinned. "Not unless you're willing to follow us in your own boat. This is just for us and our families." "Aren't *we* family?" Langley added glumly. "Define 'family'." From up on the bow, a whistle sounded, letting out a cloud of steam. "We're going to cast off in 15 minutes," Margaret called from the prow. "Finish your farewells quickly!" Mulder and Scully finished saying their goodbyes to Skinner, the Lone Gunmen, Holly, Alyssa, Gerret and Grant, promising to call and to write soon. Troi scrambled up the gangplank excitedly to get a good look at what would be their living quarters for the next year. Margaret had planned on getting a houseboat, but certainly not one this huge. With the money that they had been given, it was enough to buy the biggest and most well-equipped houseboat that was on the market. Troi considered it their own miniature little 'Titanic'...not counting the sinking part. 'The Believer' had three levels: the deck, the first floor, and the second floor. The deck was the place that Troi decided to explore first. The captain's quarters had the steering wheel, the compass, the radio, and all of their charts, maps and navigational equipment. All of it was state-of-the-art technology, and Troi loved it. There was a ladder that led up to the crow's nest, which wasn't very high, but was still kind of exciting. There were no sails on the boat; it was powered entirely by engine. The deck also had a few lounge chairs and tables. But mostly, it was simply for looking out and enjoying the ocean, as well as steering through it. The first floor was their basic living quarters. There were six bedrooms, one for each member of the group, a kitchen, a dining room, a bathroom, a living room, and several closets and such in between. The rooms were all very open, with large glass windows to look out from and watch the ocean. Troi had been worried that the boat's rooms would be cramped at first, but she decided that she was pleased with what she saw. The floor below that was a bit different. It was mostly for storage and the engines, which could be observed and repaired from one room at the back. There was another living room, a bit smaller than the first. Here was also another room for navigation and steering, like a substitute should the captain's quarters on the deck have problems. What Troi liked the most about the bottom floor was that there was a thick glass floor in the living room, so you could look down and see all the ocean life below. Troi rushed back up on deck in hopes of persuading her foster parents to cast off early. The last preparations were being made. Engines were checked, storage closets were closed, ropes were untied and anchors were raised. Tina, Margaret and Troi were already on board, and Mulder, Scully and Samantha were finishing saying goodbye to everyone. They were interrupted when Margaret told them to come aboard. Soon, all six of the group were on the deck of 'The Believer', waving goodbye as the gangplank was raised. They shouted their farewells amidst the cries from the dock: "We'll see you all in a year!" "I'll think of you every day, Samantha!" "I know you will, Byers!" "Hurry back before we bore ourselves to death!" "Don't get lost at sea, now!" "Bring me back something from Australia! Make sure you go to Australia, okay?!" "Have fun! Don't forget to write!" "Bon Voyage!!" 'The Believer' began to move forward, slowly at first, and then picking up speed. The enormous houseboat pulled away from the dock, its flags waving merrily in the wind. Mulder, Scully, Samantha, Troi, Margaret and Tina were all waving goodbye like crazy, while Troi kept complaining as to the fact that they didn't have any confetti. Skinner, The Lone Gunmen, Holly, Gibson, Alyssa, Gerret and Grant stood at the edge of the dock with a few crew members, also waving goodbye. The sun beat down on the houseboat and it's crew as it plowed through the waves steadily. All of the other boats on the dock were moved out of the way as they chugged away from the dock and out to sea. Seabirds followed the ship on the ocean breeze. Soon, everyone waving from the dock became small dots amidst a blur of gray and blue. The voyage of 'The Believer' had begun. "I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!!!" Scully groaned sarcastically as Mulder spread his arms wide and thrust himself into the wind while standing on the prow. "Lean forward any farther and you'll be flying, Jack," Scully commented. "Flying overboard, that is." "Oh, don't worry. I'll never let go, Scully." Scully couldn't hide a small giggle. Right now, she just felt so downright good, she had to laugh. The sea was perfect. The ocean breeze was rustling through her hair, the fresh salty sea air filled her nostrils, and the sunset turned the ocean a beautiful red-purple color. Margaret was up in the captain's quarters, making sure that everything was alright with her brand new ship. However, the ship could mostly keep it's own course steady, and there was little that she actually needed to do. Mulder and Scully were on the deck, watching the sunset over the ocean. Troi was busy exploring all of the ship's rooms, looking for anything that could interest her. Samantha and her mom were resting and talking in the downstairs living room. They were mostly catching up on things, as they had had little time to spend time together when Samantha had first returned. They had been at sea for the afternoon, and the sun was just beginning to set. The day had gone very well, and 'The Believer' had made good time. Scully joined Mulder on the prow and stared out to sea. "It's beautiful," She said, gazing out at the lapping purple waves. "It seems it's been forever since I've felt this good. The last couple of months have been such a hell...so I guess it's time to have a little heaven." "You ain't seen nothin' yet," Mulder grinned. "We haven't even gotten to Florida yet. Why, it's just the first day! And already you're talking about being in heaven." "I can't help it. I feel so...*good*. I guess I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time." "Well..." Mulder put his arm around Scully's shoulder. "I think you earned it. I think you deserve it." "We *both* deserve it," Scully corrected. "This is worth six year's of working non-stop." "Come on down," Tina called suddenly from below deck, interrupting their conversation. "Dinner's going to be ready soon." 11:21 A.M. Thursday, July 8th, 1999 Atlantic Ocean A dolphin leapt out of the spray with a squeal and descended back into the depths. Troi cried out with joy and leaned as far over the railing as she could to observe the pod of dolphins that were jumping through the ship's wake below her. The air was becoming warm and moist as the ship sailed southwards. The waters of the Atlantic near Florida were a bright blue and sparkled like a tapestry of woven sapphire. So far, the trip had gone well. 'The Believer' had been at sea for three days, and they were still going at a good pace. The seas had not been rough, as they often weren't near the Carribean. The last three days for the group had been spent watching the ocean, conversing and catching up on much-needed discussion, and getting used to their new living quarters. For the first couple of nights, Mulder had gotten seasick, but he was getting used to it. All of their food was already on board the ship, and Samantha proved to be a good cook. Mulder had declared that Margaret should be the captain, Scully the first mate, Samantha the cook, Troi the communications specialist, and Tina the second mate. And when Scully asked what he should be, he replied, "I'll be the passenger." Scully could tell that Mulder was enjoying the trip, even if he was the worst seaman known to mankind. Mulder walked into the captain's quarters to find his mother and Scully sitting in a couple of seats near the wheel, talking. "Where are we?" He asked. Scully got up and walked over to a map that was tacked on the wall. Red pins were tacked up on the map to show where they had gone so far, and a red marker line charted their course. So far, the only tack was on Washington D.C., which was where they had departed from. The red line showed their course was heading south, down the eastern side of Florida. "We're in the Atlantic Ocean, in between Florida, near West Palm Beach, and the Bahamas. We'll probably be in Miami by the end of the day." "How long are we staying in Miami?" "Only long enough to rest for about a day and finish getting a bunch of supplies. Then it will be about three or four day's journey to our next stop." "Which is where?" "We're going to stop for a few days at a town called Banes in Cuba, then for a day or two at a town called Cap-Haitien in Haiti. After that we won't stop until we get to Brazil." "Your mom didn't say anything about Brazil!" "Where did you think we would go? It would be too long a journey to go straight from Cuba to Africa. We need to go down aways. Besides, it will be exciting." "Ah, well, why not?" Mulder sighed. "We've got a whole year. Might as well use it wisely." "What are you so worried about, Mulder? This is going to be lots of fun. And we have plenty of supplies for the open ocean." "I'm worried about languages. We're not that fluent in *any* foreign languages, and well, we're going places that will require something a little more extensive than English and an occasional 'Adios, amigos'." "Don't worry," Tina reassured him. "I've got translation dictionaries for Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Arabic. We can pick up other dictionaries later when we get to different countries." "How's she handling?" Mulder asked, changing the subject. "Very well. Much better than Maggie and I expected. Steers like a dream. And the sea's been nice and calm. I hope the good weather holds up until we get to Cuba. It should, though." "What's Troi doing?" Scully asked. "She's out watching the dolphins race the ship. She's been occupied with watching the ocean for hours. Looks like she's been having a good time so far." "I'm glad," Scully sighed. "She needs something that'll keep her happy and content, especially after all that's been going on." Suddenly, Troi's voice rang out from outside on the deck, "Dana, Mulder, Sam! Come look!! There's a bunch of whales out here!!" Mulder, Scully and Tina got up and walked out of the captain's quarters as they heard Troi's cries. The teen was jumping up and down and pointing excitedly out at the waves. "Look, there's three whales! See, right out there!" The three followed Troi's gaze. And indeed, aways out into the waves, there were three grey whales, two adults and a baby. Every once in a while, they would pop out of the water, breathing through their blowholes in a burst of steam and spray. And then, one of the whales leapt out of the water, creating an explosion of water and foam and salt. The whales and the dolphins were swimming side by side on one side of the boat. Troi cheered wildly while Scully ran to go and get a camera. "Hey look," Tina said suddenly. "They're doing something. But what is it?" "What do you mean?" Mulder questioned. "Look. The dolphins seem to be doing something to the whales..." The four watched, fascinated, as the large pod of dolphins suddenly changed direction and swam on an intercept course with the whales. The dolphins surrounded the three whales completely. "What are they *doing*?" The dolphins suddenly pounced on the whales, jabbing into their tough skin with their snouts, leaping up in the air and smacking them with their tails and squealing loudly. In response, the three whales twisted about wildly in the water and charged on top of the dolphins. The whales and the dolphins were fighting! "This is extremely strange," Scully said. "Whales and dolphins aren't enemies. In fact, they often swim together. Why would they be attacking each other?" "They were mad because Free Willy got all of the publicity instead of Flipper?" Mulder said with a shrug. "Very funny." "Stand back, coming through!!" Samantha's voice rang out suddenly. "I gotta get this on tape!" Mulder, Scully, Troi and Tina were pushed aside as Samantha came rushing in with a video camera in her hand. She excitedly switched it on and began to film the aquatic struggle. "Welcome to another episode from the SamCam!" She exclaimed. "I'm coming to you live from the Atlantic Ocean, near the Bahamas, on July 8th, 1999. You are witnessing a sudden and unexpected mob-fight in the middle of the Atlantic! It's dozens of bottlenose dolphins versus three gray whales! It appears that the dolphins started the fight, but those whales are fighting back with a vengeance! Oh, look at that thing throw off three dolphins in one go! What a fight! What a disaster!!" "Samantha," Tina said, "What *are* you doing?" "I'm getting this fight on tape of course!" "Sam, this is an accidental struggle between two aquatic animals, not a boxing match!" "Besides, why would you want to get it on tape? It's kinda strange," Troi added. "I'm getting all of the really cool stuff that happens to us during the trip on tape and then I'm going to make it into a movie." "A *movie*?" "Yeah. It's gonna be called 'Tales From The SamCam'!" "I think I hear critics laughing." The dolphins and whales continued to fight. Roars, squeals and snorts filled the air as they battled back and forth without ceasing. The group watched from the deck with confusion and slight depression, with Samantha calling out like a sports reporter. Then, abruptly, the fight stopped. The dolphins quit attacking and sped off in one direction, and the whales just dived beneath the surface. Within a matter of minutes, there was not a trace of them left. "Now *that* was weird," Troi commented. "I wonder what could have caused that," Scully mused. "That is certainly not normal behavior for dolphins and whales. It's very unusual." "Whatever it is, it's over now," Mulder concluded. "We'll just remember that for later. I don't think it was such a big deal." "That doesn't sound like you, Mulder. To you, *everything* strange is a big deal." "Or we could follow the dolphins off somewhere and see if they're actually the pets of a mad scientist who wants to take over the world..." "I don't think it's a big deal." "Hey, Sam, what's for lunch? I'm starved," Troi said, changing the subject. "Oh shoot, I completely forgot! I've got something in the oven!" Samantha cried, and sprinted below deck. Scully smiled. "Your sister is quite a character. One minute she's an alien abductee, the next she's a sports announcer for a pod of dolphins, the next she's a four-star cook!" "Yeah," Mulder sighed and rolled his eyes. "I couldn't agree more. Come on, let's go and see if we can give her a hand." 5:04 P.M. Thursday, July 8th, 1999 Miami, Florida 'The Believer' rested on the dock patiently as the group of six descended the gangplank slowly, gazing around at the palm trees and shimmering blue waters. Troi was first onto the dock, motioning for the others to hurry up and follow her. "It's very pretty," Scully commented. "Too bad we're only staying until tomorrow noon." "Yeah," Mulder added. "Feels good to know that you can go someplace without having to worry about having to deal with a case." "It's certainly different. I feel like any minute I should pull out the badge and start asking everyone questions." Mulder smiled and squeezed her hand. "Well don't. If you do, Skinner'll find out, and then he'll be biting our heads off because he has to go around apologizing to everybody." "He'd probably make us do the apologizing." "Come on. Troi's yelling at us to hurry up. And you know how dangerous it is to keep her waiting." The group was staying in Miami only to take a break from their few day's worth of sailing and to get a few more things they needed...enough food to last until Cuba, and possibly beyond that, since they didn't know how they were going to fare with different types of meals in different conditions. Samantha also wanted to get a fair supply of video tapes while they were still in the US, they needed gasoline and oil, and Margaret needed a few more maps for direction. They found a warehouse store about a mile or two from the dock and got all of their food, water, gas and oil in the extra-large warehouse-style containers. Then they went to a tourist shop next door to purchase video tapes and maps. While Samantha was filling her bag with tapes and Maggie was thumbing through a pile of maps and atlases, Troi decided to take a peek at the pamphlets that lined one wall. There were advertisements for hotels, fancy restaurants, popular tourist sites, and all of the major theme parks in Florida, including Sea World, Disney World, Epcot and Universal Studios Florida. Troi was drawn to a pamphlet that talked about a marine research center in Southern Miami. On the inside, she read about a world-famous project called: PROJECT SONIC ECHO. The project involved using ultrasonic sound waves to 'talk' to dolphins and other marine life. The technology could then be used to direct the animals to help perform specific tasks, such as herding schools of fish, or directing scientists to a place where toxic waste needed to be removed. The project was still very experimental, but so far, it looked promising. There was a lab performing the project in Miami, and Troi at first thought of asking Dana and Fox to let her go and see, but thought better of it. The project also had operating labs in Nassau, Havana, Banes, Santo Domingo and San Juan. Remembering that they were going to stay in Banes, Cuba for several days, she decided that she would ask to go see the lab when they arrived there. After they got everything that they needed, the group found a hotel, checked in, went out for a while to dinner, then came back and slept. 12:12 A.M. Friday, July 9th, 1999 Miami, Florida Their stop in Miami was very short, and before they knew it, they were loading things back onto the houseboat and were preparing to cast off. It would be about three more days on the sea before they arrived in Cuba. Mulder, especially, was saddened as to the fact that he would have to face the rolling waves again after just getting comfortable standing on solid ground. "Are we going to Jamaica, Mulder?" Troi cried out excitedly from up on deck as Mulder was paying the person in charge of the dock their fare for keeping the boat there. "Nope. We're going to Cuba, then a quick stop at Haiti, and then down to Brazil." "Ooh, can we go on the Amazon River?!" "I don't think we're going to go *that* far into Brazil. Just out to Fortaleza or something." "Where the heck is Fortaleza?!" "Good question. Ask Mrs. Scully, she's the one who knows everything about the places we're going." Troi went off to do just that. Mulder paid their fee, then ran up the gangplank to where Scully was waiting. "We're off to Cuba!" She said with a smile. "If we keep going at this pace, we'll be in Egypt by next week! It seems like we just got here." "We are making very good time. In fact, if the weather's been as nice to us as it has for the past week, we may make it to Fortaleza a few days early." "Troi wants to know where Fortaleza is." "You know what?...so do I." 9:24 P.M. Friday, July 9th, 1999 Straights of Florida The Caribbean moon lit the indigo tropical waters with its lunar glow. Waves slapped up against the hull in a steady, soothing rhythm as Fox Mulder stared out to sea, his thoughts drifting like the kelp on the tide. "Mulder?" Dana Scully's voice came softly from behind him. "Aren't you going to bed? It's getting kind of late, and we've got a busy day tomorrow." Mulder didn't answer her. His head was bowed low and he was leaning over the edge of the rail, staring out to sea. "Mulder?" Scully walked up and stood next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He didn't turn to face her, but just kept staring. A saddened look seemed to dominate his face. "Mulder, what's wrong?" "It's nothing," He said softly. "Nothing..." Scully frowned. "Mulder, is this about....when you were..." "I don't want to talk about it right now," He replied hastily. "Yes, you do," Scully argued. "I can see it in you." "I....don't want to think about it. But it keeps coming back every now and then...memories...sometimes I wish I didn't remember. It feels like some distant dream, like it all happened a very long time ago..." Scully felt his voice quiver. She leaned her head on his shoulder and gazed out to sea. "Do you want to talk about it? Do you need to get it out?" "What do I say? What do you want me to say?" "I don't care. Whatever comes to your mind. I just want you to let some of it go, at least." Mulder was silent for a long time. Scully didn't speak, she just let him think through it. A warm, tropical breeze blew into her face. "I remember...the nights. When you were alone in a hotel." Scully didn't reply. "I remember how I would wait until you were asleep, then I'd come up to you...very quietly, because I didn't want to wake you...and watch you sleep. Memories are kind of blurry now...but I'd watch you sleep, you looked so peaceful...I remember touching you, stroking your hair and your cheek and neck...just feeling you there. I remember...sometimes...I'd sing you to sleep, and me wishing so desperately that you could hear me...." Silence. "And then...I'd embrace you, try really hard to hold you...while you were sleeping...I could feel you shivering in my arms..." Mulder's voice trembled. "It hurt me so much...it hurt me to feel you shivering. I didn't want to be so cold. I didn't want you to be so afraid of me....I remember that I'd try to make you stop shivering, try to make you warm, I'd whisper in your ear, tell you it was alright, but you could never hear me.....You were so sorrowful, so grief-stricken, I wanted you so badly to know I was there...and even though I had promised myself that I wouldn't disturb your sleeping anymore, I'd be so desperate, so desperate to let you know I was right there beside you....I remember.....willing myself....to... get inside your....dreams.....I remember speaking to you in dreams....." Mulder stopped. His eyes were filling up with tears that were threatening to spill over. He hung his head in regret at the memories of his wanderings, lowering his forehead to the boat rail. Scully clutched him to her and held him close to try and comfort him. "Scully...I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that I haunted you...I'm sorry about those nights..." "Don't be," She told him quietly. "If you hadn't...none of us would be here right now. Even if I didn't realize it, it was your spirit that kept me going..." "I'm so sorry...." "It's all over now," She reassured him. "It's all over. That's all behind us. You don't have to think about it anymore, it doesn't matter. We've got our whole lives ahead of us now. It's time to look ahead, think about the future. You don't have to be so contrite." Mulder's sobbing lessened as he held Scully in his arms. The firm feeling of her body pressed against his reassured him, comforted him, and he took Scully's words to heart. After all that had happened...it felt so good to be together again, and to know that nothing could separate them ever again. "Come on," Scully lifted her head from his shoulder and gazed into his eyes. "Let's go down and get some sleep. Don't want Troi or Sam to hear us." Mulder nodded his head in agreement. The two descended down to the lower floor to their separate bedrooms for the night. Mulder fell asleep to the sound of the warm tropical wind blowing outside and the comforting knowledge that from now on, everything was going to be alright. He awoke the next morning to the warm, pleasant feel of sunlight shining through his window and the sounds of Samantha making breakfast in the kitchen. Feeling much better after a good night's sleep and Scully's words from the previous evening, he got up and went to see what was going on on the rest of the boat. "Ooh, what's that smell?" He heard Troi ask as he walked into the kitchen. Samantha was cooking up a storm, and Troi was rushing around trying to help her, although she was actually making more of a mess than a benefit. "Troi, put that down! It's for dinner tonight, and don't drop it, or I'll spend forever having to clean it up." "What is it?" "It's a kind of spice." "Why's it blue?" "It's not blue, it's gray." "Looks blue to me." "Troi, why don't you come up on deck with me?" Mulder sighed at seeing Samantha's frustrated expression. We'll find something to do until breakfast." "Sure," Troi said, and rushed up on deck ahead of him. Samantha gave Mulder a grateful wink and continued with her cooking. By the time Mulder got up on deck, Troi had already found something new to do - watch the ocean for any activity. Mulder found Maggie and Scully up in the captain's quarters, and decided to go see them. The ship had dropped anchor for a while to give the engines a quick rest. "...What are the weather reports?" He heard Scully ask her mom. "Well...satellite readings indicate no sign of any weather activity in the Caribbean area, which is quite lucky. But there's been several unexpected storms brewing off the southern east coast of South America. Several boats have been lost at sea." She answered. Mulder got a worried look on his face. "Don't worry, Mulder. We're not going to go that far south down South America, so we should be out of range of any storms." "What exactly are we going to do once we get to Cuba?" "There's plenty of stuff to do. We could go to some wildlife reserves, or beach resorts, there's plenty of those there, and then we can go kick Fidel Castro's butt and tell him to..." "Sounds like a plan to me." Scully sighed and stretched her arms. "I need a breath of fresh air. I'll be back in a minute." She got up out of her seat and walked out of the captain's quarters to the back of the deck. Mulder watched her for a moment, then followed her. Scully stood on the back end of the deck, and breathed in the warm, tropical breeze heavily, and then exhaled slowly with a sigh of content. She was about to turn around when she felt Mulder come up from behind and place his hands on her waist. "Hey," He said, "pretty view, isn't it?" "Yeah," Scully agreed with another sigh. "Everything's been going so smoothly. It just feels like everything's perfect, and nothing will ever go wrong again." "That's because it won't." They turned to face each other. Blue eyes met hazel ones automatically. Mulder and Scully stared at each other for a few minutes. Then Mulder put his arms around her and kissed her. She let herself melt into his form, feeling his lips on hers. It was wonderful feeling. It was just wonderful, just perfect..... "Welcome to another episode of the SamCam..." A familiar voice woke Scully from her trance. Mulder allowed her to pull away from his tight embrace to glance around confusedly. "What is it?" "Thought I heard someone..." "Coming to you live on July 10th 1999..." "Uh oh." Mulder and Scully watched with open mouths as the lens of a video camera suddenly began to emerge from the side of the boat, pointing at them from just over the railing. Samantha's whispered comments could barely be heard from within the steady sound of the waves. Mulder marched over to the railing and threw his head over to catch the culprit in the act. "Samantha!!" "Wo-who-whoa!!!" KER-SPLASH!!! Mulder let out a long, low groan as his younger sister lost her balance from her perch on a fishing net that was draped over the side of the boat and toppled head over heels into the water with a shout and a splash. Samantha bobbed up, spitting sea water and panting angrily, her hair dripping with salt and grime. "Serves you right!!" Mulder called down to her splashing form. "Just shut up and get me a life saver!!" Scully grabbed a life saver from the edge of the boat and tossed it over to Samantha. She grabbed it eagerly, and Mulder began to tow her in to help her up the ship. Samantha was busy coughing and sputtering out fits of rage at the injustice of it all. "Never a dull moment," Mulder said. "Or a romantic one, either," Scully sighed regretfully. Mulder hauled Samantha's sopping-wet form over the railing and up onto the deck, where she lay panting from the shock. "My camera! Where's my camera?!!" She cried woefully. "It's tangled in the net you were sitting in. Too bad it didn't fall into the water with you." "Oh, shut up." "What exactly do you think you were *doing*?" Scully moaned, reaching over the boat's rail to drag up the net and retrieve the video camera. "Filming." "I can see that," Mulder growled. "I thought you were cooking breakfast." "I was. I'm finished. I just came out here to tell you it was ready, and I spotted you standing there, and I just happened to have my camera handy..." "... And so you decided to climb over the edge of the boat onto a fishing net so that you could film us kissing." "I didn't want to interrupt such a romantic moment." "Neither did I." Mulder said sarcastically. Apparently, it was going to be difficult to find time alone with Scully on this trip, especially with Samantha following his every move. "Scully, you go finish setting out breakfast. I'll help Sam get dried off and stuff." He said. Scully walked off to carry out his order, winking at him as she left. 'Challenge for the cruise: find at least 30 minutes where Scully and I can be alone', Mulder thought to himself as he helped Samantha downstairs. 11:21 A.M. Tuesday, July 13th, 1999 Banes, Cuba Three days at sea well spent soon landed 'The Believer' in Banes, Cuba. Banes was a rather small town, and not very well known, but still just as gorgeous as the rest of Cuba. The large houseboat sat at the end of a long wooden dock that led up to a long stretch of white sand bordering the light aqua-blue color of the tropical ocean. A few palm trees stuck out of the sand at a diagonal angle, several small sailboats and windsurfer's boards rested on the sandy shore, and a large expanse of buildings, jungle, and tree-covered mountains stood before them in the distance. Scully gave Mulder a small hug as she watched Troi bound off the gangplank in the biggest leaps there was possible and go sprinting off onto the white sand. Mulder and Scully descended more gradually, breathing in the warm, tropical air deeply. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the sun caused the green-blue waters of the Caribbean Sea to sparkle with a million stars. "Guess it'll have to do," Mulder said teasingly. "Hey look," Samantha pointed ahead of them at a group of buildings that stood off in the distance. "That's where were staying. First class accomodations. I wonder if they have cable." "I'm sure they do, Sam." A small tourist jeep that was being driven by a young Cuban man skitted across the sand to the dock where the group stood waiting on the gangplank. He drove the jeep right up onto the dock, skidded to a halt in front of the boat, and waved a huge sombrero at them cheerfully. "Hola', Senior Mulder and Seniorita Scully! Welcome to sunny Cuba!!" He bowed low. "We have arranged only the best accomodations for you!" "You have?" "Oh yes, senior. You recieve much honor for your heroic acts!" Mulder looked confused until Scully said to one side, "It's kinda hard to find some privacy when you've just recently saved the world from alien invasion." "You're telling me." The man grinned up at them. "You may call me Jose'. I will be hauling your supplies and belongings from the dock over to your temorary residence and then back again in a few days." Mulder and Scully stood aside and allowed the man to come aboard in order to pack their things into the jeep that could take them to the hotel off in the distance. Mulder motioned with his hand for Scully to follow him off the dock. 6:44 P.M. Tuesday, July 13th, 1999 Banes, Cuba The day drew to a close with a red, magenta and violet sunset over sparkling Caribbean waters. Their first day out of the USA had been spent mostly just unloading what seemed an endless amount of belongings and relaxing around the beach that lay less than a mile from their hotel. The ocean was warm enough for even Scully to want to get in...at least for a little while. She wondered if her father had ever been in these waters when he was on duty. She hoped that he had, for he would have loved it. Right now, Mulder, Scully, Troi and Samantha had decided to eat dinner at an American pub in the town farther inland. The pub had an indoor restaraunt and then an open-air extension and bar that overlooked the ocean. The bar also had a few tables and a large wooden dance floor. A few couples got up and danced every now and then, especially if the music that was being played fit the setting. Unlike most of the other pubs and restaraunts in Cuba, the music was modern American instead of traditional Cuban. Apparently the pub was specifically for tourists and visitors instead of regular natives to the country. A few Caribbean-style torches burned with a steady, warm glow outside the pub. Mulder took another swig of his drink and stole a glance at Samantha, who was digging into her food with a never-ending eagerness. The dinner had been excellent, so much that for once in his life he had been too full to order dessert. "We're going to have to leave soon," Scully commented to him on one side. "It's getting dark, and we have to walk back to the hotel, you know." Mulder sighed with the reminder. He just didn't want this night to end. It was almost impossible for him to believe that he was here, now, living a good life, after what seemed like an eternity of sleepless nights and being so alone. The more he saw and did, the more he began to believe that six years worth of his exhausting work had actually been worth it. It seemed hard to believe. There were some things that had happened along the way that he felt could never be made up for, some things he had lost that could never be regained...like those three horrible months when Scully had been gone. And the long period where he had doubted everything that he believed because of Michael Kritzchau's testimony. And the last couple of months, that eternity when he had been so alone..... He pushed the memories out of his mind. No, if this night was going to end, it should do so in a satisfying way. Mulder listened as a new, fast-paced song came on and watched some of the couples glide their way across the dance floor like liquid statues. He smiled as he got an idea... "Scully..." He turned to her with his familiar half-grin. "Would you like to dance?" Scully stared at him for a moment while Mulder held his breath with anticipation. A smile slowly grew across her face that matched his. "Sure." Both Troi and Samantha exchanged a wink and a happy grin as Mulder helped Scully off the barstool and onto the dance floor. Scully felt the muscles in her chest tighten as Mulder's hand took hers and his arm circled her waist. She placed her other hand on his shoulder, letting her fingers slide over his broad muscles. He grinned at her, and she grinned back, suddenly feeling very hot. But it was a pleseant heat; she almost didn't notice that she had begun to sweat. They both automatically began to dance in time with the music, which was somewhat fast-paced, so they had to move quickly to keep up. For several minutes, they just danced without speaking, too entranced in the atmosphere and wonder of the moment to notice Troi and Samantha exchanging high-fives. The song ended and a new song came on, still somewhat quick, put cheerful and seemingly perfect. Scully cocked a smile. "I like this song." Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, And I say, it's alright. Mulder took the hint. A few of the couples seemed to sense the invisible bond and moved off the dance floor as Mulder danced with Scully in time of the music, their feet moving across the dance floor with such grace it seemed as if they had practiced the dance for hours. Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter, Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, And I say, it's alright. Scully slipped free of Mulder's tight embrace so that he could spin her around under his arm, and then pull her back into him again. They moved to the left, and then back again, and Scully spun again, eyes shining and teeth revealed in a broad smile. Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces, Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here. Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, And I say, it's alright. Mulder felt lighter and quicker than he ever had in years. The feel of Scully's hand on his shoulder and his hand around their waist was like something out of a distant dream that he could barely remember, and was suddenly coming back to him in a rush of pure joy. Her blue eyes gazed into his with a soothing yet burning sensation and reflected the flickering torches that surrounded the pub. Sun, sun, sun, here it comes. Sun, sun, sun, here it comes. Sun, sun, sun, here it comes. Sun, sun, sun, here it comes. Sun, sun, sun, here it comes. All feeling was lost to both of them as Mulder and Scully danced around the dance floor with professional and unmatched ease and grace, not knowing the steps to such a song but still perfecting their movement in a steady, pleseant beat. They seemed to move as one person, dancing so well that most of the people stopped to watch them. Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting, Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear. The lyrics seemed to remind them of the relief of being together after such a long period of being apart, both in body and in heart. The utter joy that spilled over them to know that the ice and cold and smoke had melted away into the past and the sun had finally risen again in their lives was enough to make them to almost completely forget six of the most difficult years of their lives. Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, And I say, it's alright. Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, It's alright, It's alright. The song ended, and the magical trance between them was broken. Scully allowed herself to be released from Mulder's embrace and wiped hot sweat from her forehead. They helped each other back to the bar where Troi and Samantha were applauding widly. Even several of the other people at the bar that they didn't know where smiling at them as if having known them forever. Scully let out a long, heavy sigh and looked at Mulder. "That was... wonderful, Mulder. Thank you." "And thank you," Mulder countered, his voice, wavering slightly. "I didn't know that you were such a good dancer." "Neither did I," Scully said with a half-grin. "Aw, I knew it all along," Samantha said to one side to Troi. "At least with Mulder she is," Troi added. Mulder and Scully couldn't stop staring at each other. It was as if now that their eyes had locked during the song they were unable to tear their gaze from the other's. Mulder couldn't resist pulling Scully into him again and giving her a kiss. It would have lasted much longer had they not in public. As Scully felt her lips on his, she couldn't help but feel that life was perfect. Nothing could ever go wrong again. Mulder pulled away from her reluctantly. He smiled. "It's dark already. We'd better go." All Scully could do was nod slowly. The two left the pub in a daze with Samantha and Troi in the rear and walked out into the street that led to the hotel, the scent of the burning torches lingering in the warm tropical air. As they left, another song began playing in the pub... Whenever I feel your arms around me, It seems that we've never been apart. And everything's perfect, yeah, yeah. Yes everything's perfect, yeah, yeah. Whenever I see you smiling at me, I know you can never live without me. And that's just perfect, yeah, yeah. And my life is perfect, yeah, yeah. I think that this could be distiny, Can do no wrong when you're next to me. Together I hope we'll always be, It's like a dream come true, whenever I'm with you, I makes me smile so bright, you know it feels so right. I'm happy as can be, whenever you're with me. Whenever I'm with you, it's like a dream come true. Whenever I feel your arms around me, Whenever I see you smiling at me, Whenever I feel your arms around me, Whenever I see you smiling at me. So now that we're here let's have a good time, I know that I felt it from the start. Cause everything's perfect, yeah, yeah. Yes everything's perfect, yeah, yeah. It's always a thrill to have you with me, I know that you see it in my eyes. Cause everything's perfect, yeah, yeah. And our life is perfect, yeah, yeah... 12:04 P.M. Friday, July 16th, 1999 Banes, Cuba "Check it out," Troi said, waving a pamphlet in Mulder's face. "Let's go see this thing." She thrust the piece of paper in for examination. "Sounds interesting, doesn't it?" The small group had spent the last couple of days in Cuba well, and they planned to set sail sometime again the day after tomorrow. It had practically been three days of nothing but relaxation...or as close to relaxation as possible for two such as Mulder and Scully. They stayed up late going into town or walking on the beach, then slept in early to whatever time they felt like. Unfotunately, because they were so used to getting up early, the latest they could sleep in was nine. They had gone sightseeing in the city, traveling through the surrounding lush jungles and even snorkeling. Mulder and Scully had struggled for time together, but they never seemed to get far away enough, or when they did, they found themselves at a loss as to what to say to the other. Troi had been bugging them all day to go to the small-yet-popular aquatic life center so that she could see that 'Project: Sonic Echo' that she had seen on the pamphlet in Miami. Now they were walking down the main street in the city to find a restaraunt for lunch, and she was attempting to convince Mulder once again. Mulder studied the pamphlet. "It's a research institute for marine life. So what are you so interested in, Troi?" "They have this project they're working on where they can 'talk' to dolphins and whales and tell them to do things. I want to see what that's all about." "The project is run by the US government." "So?" "So I thought we were here to *avoid* things that have to do with the government. "Oh, come on, Mulder. They've got an aquarium and seals and a dolphin show," Troi protested. "You can go see a dolphin show anywhere." Scully, who had been listening in on the conversation, gave Mulder a look. 'just go', she mouthed silently. Mulder sighed and gave in. "Alright, Troi, we'll go. But just for a few hours." Troi smiled and whooped. "Alright!" She grabbed the pamphlet out of Mulder's hands eagerly. "Come on, it's just a few blocks ahead to the right." She took off down the street with Mulder, Scully and the rest in her wake. "So what's the plan?" Samantha said, coming between Mulder and Scully. "I thought we were going to that one restaraunt with the little umbrellas in the drinks and that trained parrot that sits at the entrance and squawks 'Come in, come in...'" "There's been a slight change in destination. Troi's just convinced us that we just *have* to go to this nearby marine life center where they're performing examples of this special project and have a dolphin show. So we're going there instead." "Do they have a cafe'?" "Only if you want them to, Sam." Four blocks and 20 minutes later, the small party found themselves outside a small, and somewhat old-looking marine center. It looked just like any other small-town aquarium, with a large sign at the front entrance which read, 'BANES BAY AQUARIUM AND MARINE CENTER'. Several other signs were posted at the entrance, written in both Spanish and English. They paid for their tickets, then went inside. The marine center was small, with a sort of old-time look to it. They walked to the center of a small garden, with a large post in the middle with signs pointing in the direction of each place: 'Tropical Fish Aquarium', 'Sea Lion Tank', 'Dolphin Tank', 'Cafe'', 'Research Center' and 'Gift Shop' were all printed on each sign. "Ooh, let's go eat!" Samantha was the first to speak. "No, I wanted to go to that research center!" Troi countered. Scully stopped them. "Since it is around lunch, we can go there first, then afterwards, we can go see that thing that Troi is interested in, alright? Good." They had lunch, and then proceeded to the main building of the marine center. There Troi found herself thoroughly engrossed in the small exhibits were they showed how certain fish ate, bred and slept, and other various things. Mulder, on the other hand, found himself starting to get rather bored. After about half an hour of lesser experiments, Troi found what she was looking for: an exhibit on Project Sonic Echo, or PSE. It was at this point that Mulder began to get interested, but for the wrong reasons. A short video explained a little bit on the behavior of dolphins and whales, and how they used echolocation to locate things in the water, but it was basically information that any ten-year-old could tell someone. Then finally, a man came out and began to explain to the group and the other tourists at the exhibit exactly how the project worked. "This is a very recent project, in fact it has only begun within the past month or two, but it has already risen to amazing new heights," The man began. "Scientists use a special radio-like device, which they call an radiecho." He pointed to an example on a nearby table. "Like this one. It's attached to a microphone, then lowered into the water. The radiecho sends out sound waves into the water. But when the dolphins hear the sounds, they interpret the sounds as commands; such as 'go here', 'lift that', or 'stop'. Different frequencies in the sound waves create different commands. Much in the way the dolphins themselves use echolocation. Whales also have a similar property, so the device can also be used on them, although dolphins are easier to work with." He stopped and looked at the crowd expectantly. "Are there any questions?" Mulder hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand. "Yes, you," The tour guide called back. "Um...yeah. Well, I was just wondering...what sorts of commands would you give the dolphins? I mean, what would you use that sort of thing for?" The man seemed to be studying Mulder rather carefully. "Well....I'm glad you asked. Scientists plan to use the device to direct dolphins to do things like herd schools of fish for food, or keep away sharks in swimming areas, or perhaps to direct people to a place where toxic waste needs to be removed. It all depends on the frequency of the sound waves." "So...you could tell these dolphins to do other things, too? Like say attack something or someone, right?" Mulder added. The man still appeared to be examining Mulder with a strange, disconnected look. "Well....yes. But I don't know...who would do such things." He stopped, and motioned to another man standing nearby, probably one of the center caretakers. He whispered something into the other man's ear urgently. The other man nodded and hurried off. Then he turned back to the crowd. Scully leaned into Mulder. "What are you thinking?" "Oh...I was just thinking about that one day when we saw that pod of dolphins attack those whales." "What, you think that weird thing is somehow connected to PSE?" "I...don't know. I doubt it. The thought just popped into my head." "Any other questions?" the man asked. Troi was the next to raise a hand. "Do you have any demonstrations of PSE that you can show us?" "Sorry, but we only perform experiments out in the open ocean. We plan to do another experiment next week, so you can go down to the pier and see it then," He explained. Troi sighed with regret, knowing that they would probably be halfway to Brazil by next week. "Any more questions?" The guide asked again. A few more hands raised, but Mulder, Scully, Troi, Samantha, Margaret and Tina were already picking themselves up to leave. Troi sighed with regret as they exited the large building. "Man, I was hoping for something a little more extensive, you know, like a demonstration." "Well, that's about what I would expect from a government-oriented project," Mulder sighed. "Now what?" Scully looked at the pamphlet, then at her watch. "Well, they're going to have another dolphin show in about 15 minutes. Maybe we could go and see that." Mulder shrugged. "Sure, why not?" They started off again, and soon reached the other main attraction of the marine park: a small building next to a large tank filled with water. A sign to the entrance of the area read 'Dolphin Tank' in large blue letters. A structure of about a dozen rows of seats bordered one side of the pool, and the seats were about half-filled with people from various ethnic groups. A sign below the entrance sign read: 'Show Times: 9:30, 11:30, 1:30 and 3:30.' They were just in time for the 1:30 show. They walked into the small arena and took up six seats in the fourth row, which Scully figured was close enough for them to get a good look at the show but still far enough away for them to avoid getting wet. As they quickly grabbed their seats, Mulder noticed the tank and couldn't help but feel sorry for the aquatic animals. The tank looked extremely small, and plain, just like an oversized swimming pool. "You look nervous," Scully said as she sat down next to Mulder. "Exactly when's the last time you went to a dolphin show?" Mulder groaned. "When I was six. We went to sea world and saw a bunch of dolphins doing flips in the air. They were squealing and clicking and splashing water everywhere. Everyone else loved it. Me...I thought it was the scariest thing I have ever encountered in my six-year-existance." "What about that incident with the dreadful leaf-bug you told me about?" "I was eight, not six." Before Scully could respond, two trainers, one female and one male, both young and well-tanned, stepped out onto the wet, concrete platform on the other side of the tank. Both were also dressed in wet suits. The murmur of the small crowd in the stands fell silent as the woman waved her hands for quiet. "First of all, I would like to thank you all for attending this afternoon's show!" The woman called, her words amplified by a tiny throat mike. The man repeated what she had just said in Spanish. "My name is Katy, and this is Alex," The trainer continued, motioning to herself and her assistant. He repeated her words in Spanish. "And now, we would like you to meet our star actors..." As she spoke, a small door beneath the water slid open, and out of the door swam four large, silver bottlenose dolphins. "Meet Sharkey, Racer, Algernon and Draco!" A small applause went up from the crowd as the four dolphins stuck their heads out of the water and squeaked a greeting at the excited crowd. "That's a lot of dolphins for such a small tank, don't you think?" Mulder said aside to Scully. "Maybe they're on a tight budget." "Algernon was the name of a lab rat in this short story...." "Mulder, stop being so paranoid!" "Too late." The show began. Katy explained things about each of the dolphins, whether it be life history or unusual habits, all the while with her assistant repeating whatever she said in Spanish translation. Katy walked to the edge of the tank. "Racer, Draco....jump!" She shouted, and lifted her hand in a strange position. Two of the dolphins, presumably Racer and Draco, spun around and leaped out of the water with a squeal with perfect timing. An applause went up from the group as the dolphins splashed back down. Alex repeated the command to the other two dolphins, Sharkey and Algernon, and they too leaped out of the water with amazing ease. "We've trained Racer and Draco to respond to English commands, and Sharkey and Algernon to Spanish commands," Both trainers explained one after the other. "How about that: A bilingual dolphin pod," Samantha joked. More tricks followed soon after that. The dolphins performed their tricks in pairs, each to their own commands. They jumped in the air and did flips, they leaped through rings, they stood up in the water and 'walked' backwards and other various tricks. Each trick was followed by a round of applause from the crowd. Clapping came up again as Sharkey and Algernon finished a demostration of a double backflip with seemingly no effort. As the dolphins regained a swimming composure in the water, Katy spoke up again. "And now, we've reached the part of the show where we do something special: We will draw a number out of a can and announce it to the crowd. If you will turn around, you will notice that there are numbers printed on the back of each of the seats. Whatever number is picked is the seat that is called, and whoever is sitting in that seat will get the opportuntiy to come down and pet each of the dolphins in turn! If a seat is called that no one is sitting in, then another number will be picked until someone gets to come up." A translation soon followed. Mulder rolled his eyes. "So if you get your seat number picked, you get to go down and pet the dolphins? I mean, who would want to do that? It's just dolphin skin." "Well, *some* people may actually enjoy it," Scully countered. Katy reached into a tin can handed to her by Alex, then slowly pulled out a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it and observed the writing. "And the lucky number is....number 23! Yes, it's number 23!!" People in the stands began checking the back of their seats and glancing around to see who had won. Still no one stood up. "Whoever has seat 23, come on down!" Mulder looked around, wondering who had been the lucky winner of petting a bunch of dolphins. He glanced behind him to look some more....when he suddenly noticed the large *23* painted in white letters on the back of his seat. "Hey, Mulder, you got it!" Troi cried excitedly. "Alright!!" Mulder stared at the number with an open mouth, then at Troi, then back at Scully. Scully couldn't hide an enormous grin as if to say, 'Well, how ironic...' "Number 23! Last call for number 23!" "Come on, Mulder, go down and pet the dolphins for us!" Samantha urged. "Yeah, Mulder! You won!" "Yes, Mulder," Scully grinned. "You won...might as well go claim your wonderful prize." "But...um..." Mulder said, completely dumbfounded. "Come on!" Troi exclaimed, lifting him to his feet. "Go do it!" Katy noticed Mulder rise to his feet. "There's our winner! Number 23, come on down!" Mulder glanced around at his smiling friends for a moment, face flushed red, then slowly climbed over the seat and started down the stands to the dolphin tank. "Alright, Mulder! Woohoo!!" Samantha and Troi whooped. And of course, Samantha instantly remembered to pull out her infamous SamCam. 'Just my luck', Mulder thought to himself as he descended down the steps and walked slowly up onto the slippery conrete platform. He was quickly greeted by the two trainers. "Sir, what is your name?" Katy said, thrusting him a small microphone. "Umm...call me Mulder," He said dully. The two trainers looked surprised. "Mulder? As in *the* FBI Agent Mulder?! The one who-" "Yes, and we're on *vacation*," He said through his teeth. The trainers caught on. "We're glad you are this show's winner! Just kneel down right here, and we'll call the dolphins," Katy said. Mulder reluctantly stooped over the bright aqua-blue water of the tank. As he knelt, he noticed an odd vibration in the concrete. Strange... "Sharkey, come!" Katy motioned to the largest dolphin. Mulder held out his hand in anticipation of the approaching marine animal. But Sharkey didn't come. Instead, two of the other dolphins, Racer and Algernon, came swimming up to the platform at remarkable speed. They were heading straight in Mulder's direction. "Strange...I guess Racer and Algernon heard instead and thought I was calling them..." Katy mused. Just as Mulder was about to decide that this wasn't such a hot idea, one of the dolphins leaped up out of the water with a splash and a squeal, smacking Mulder's arm with one of it's flippers. "Wo-WOAH-AGH!!" Mulder gave a startled cry as he lost his balance and toppled head first into the blue water. Samantha would have been rolling on the ground with hysterical laughter had not the other dolphin leaped over Mulder the moment his head broke the surface, causing him to duck back down again. Scully, Troi and Samantha all stood in surprise as all four dolphins suddenly headed towards Mulder's splashing figure, squeaking and cliking in strange, rapid noises. Mulder shook water from his eyes and stared in horror as the biggest dolphin, Sharkey, charged straight at him, fins moving like lightning. He let out a teriffied cry as the dolphin butted at him with his snout, sending a shock wave of pain up his arm. "Mulder!!" Scully cried from her seat, suddenly filled with shock and fear. She, Samantha and Troi started down the stairs to the tank, with both mothers in their wake. "What are you doing?!" Katy shouted at the four animals in surprise. "Draco, Racer, stop that this instant!" The dolphins took no notice of their trainer, but continued to butt at Mulder continuously, driving him back and down with their strong beaks and tails. Mulder gave a gurguling cry for help as Algernon attacked him from behind, shoving him face-first into the freezing water. "They're *attacking* him!" Samantha shouted with horror. "Fox, come on, get out of there!" Both trainers began shouting at the dolphins in both languages, and were both utterly shocked at what they were doing. Mulder struggled to reach the surface, but the dolphins drove him down relentlessly, smacking at him with tails and even nipping at him with their small, pointed teeth. In a desperate act, Katy leaped into the water to try and restrain the dolphins, but they raced right past her as if she didn't exist. The crowd began to shout as well, some out of surprise, some to Mulder, some to the dolphins. Nothing was working. Scully sprinted to the top of the concrete platform, her heartbeat going a million miles a minute. She extended a hand to the water and shouted, "Mulder, grab my hand! Hurry!!" Mulder's head broke the surface again, and he swam like a maniac for Scully's reach, gasping and choking for breath. The water around him was tinged red from the tiny dolphin bites on his arms and legs. But just before he reached her, Draco leaped upon him, grabbing his shirt in his teeth and dragging him below the surface. "SCUL-ULP!!!" "They're killing him!!" Samantha cried in anguish. Without a second thought, Scully dove into the water, trying to distract the dolphins away from Mulder. They still took no notice of her, and dragged Mulder along the bottom of the tank, as if knowing that they could hold their breath much longer than he ever could. Scully was becoming desperate. She would have lifted those dolphins right out of the water and thrown them onto the ground one by one had she had the muscle power. Instead, all she could do was try to grab at the dolphin's dorsal fins as they zipped by and shout Mulder's name in terror as she watched the animals almost tear him to pieces. Troi rushed up to the edge of the tank, yelling at Mulder and Scully desperately, fear coursing through her veins. As her hand gripped the side of the tank, she felt something else....a wire. Confused, Troi yanked on the wire, hoping it would so something, anything to save Mulder. She was even more surprised when she pulled out a small microphone. 'Huh?!??' She thought as she observed the microphone. Katy and Alex were in a state of turmoil, completely horrified and dumbstruck that their smart, well-behaved dolphins had suddenly gone crazy and attacked practically the most famous man on the planet. Katy tried one more time: "SHARKEY, RACER, DRACO!! STOP THAT THIS MOMENT!!!" And to everyone's enormous surprise, they did. The four dolphins, which had been beating at Mulder with their tails and nipping him into tiny pieces, suddenly stopped. Two of the dolphins swam back over to the trainers, demanding to be petted, and the other two helped the coughing, wheezing Mulder to the surface and then carried him back to the platform. It was as if nothing had happened at all. Mulder was laying on his back on the platform, coughing up a lungful of water, shivering from the cold and struggling to move his arms and legs, which felt completely numb all over. He looked up dizzily as Scully stared back down at him with wide, anxious eyes. "Mulder....oh god, Mulder, are you alright?!" Mulder coughed once before answering. "Ugh...remind me to sue Fidel Castro for training Communist dolphins." "I don't understand this at all," Katy said anxiously as Scully finished wrapping Mulder's arm in another bandage. The two trainers had dismissed all the audience except for Mulder's party so they could try and sort things out. Luckily, even throughout his ordeal as a dolphin's punching bag, he hadn't broken or sprained anything. He just felt extremely numb from all the dolphin's hitting. His arms and legs were also scattered with several small dolphin bites, which Scully quickly proceeded to disinfect and then bandage. The only other injury was the fact that he was dripping wet and rather cold, despite the towel he had draped around his shoulders. "Please don't hold this against us, Mr. Mulder," The trainer continued anxiously. "All four of the dolphins have been cared for and trained since birth. They've never so much as nipped at a single person in all the time I've trained them, they're such intelligent, thoughtful creatures. I don't understand what on earth could have provoked them to such a horrible thing." "Don't worry," Mulder chattered, wincing as Scully tightened the bandage. "I won't hold this against you...." "Speak for yourself," Samantha mumbled to herself. "This a complete mystery to us," Alex said in rough English. "We not train dolphins to hurt people." Troi walked up to the platform and looked down into the water. The four dolphins were still there, swimming around, sometimes rising out of the water to see what the commotion was about, but not showing a hint of aggression. If anything, they wanted to jump and play again. "Hey...do you use these when you're training?" Troi asked Katy, extending part of the wire and the small microphone. "I just noticed that this was lowered into the tank." The trainer picked up the microphone and studied it with wide eyes. "We don't use any electrical equipment in the show! We don't allow any objects in the water, especially metal ones like this, because the dolphins could mistake them for fish and choke. Where did you get this?" Troi pointed to the part of the tank where she had found it. "Over there, near that heater. I guess the microphone was attached to something, and I pulled out of the plug." All of the people on the platform got down and walked to where Troi was pointing, with Scully helping Mulder along. On the way down, Samantha accidentally knocked over the tin can in which the trainers had pulled out Mulder's seat number. Small scraps of paper spilled on the ground. "Oh, oops, I'll get that.....hey..." Samantha started to speak, but stopped. She noticed that one of the papers was open, revealing a hastily scribbled '23'. She opened another one. Another '23'. And another '23'. And then another. And another. Samantha stood up slowly, and showed a few of the papers to Mulder, Scully and the trainers. Scully studied the papers in Samantha's hand. "Mulder, this was rigged!" "Someone obviously wanted Mulder to come down and pet the dolphins pretty badly," Samantha mused. "But *why*?!" "Maybe *he* can tell us," Troi butted in suddenly, pointing ahead. The group looked up, and saw a man glance at them with shock and then break into a run, carrying a large black object in one hand. Scully didn't waste any time. She was off like a shot, sprinting after the man at a surprising speed, especially considering the wet, slippery concrete her feet were pounding against. The man didn't have a chance. He hadn't gotten halfway to the exit before Scully pounced on him like a cat, knocking him to the ground. Had she had her gun, she would have whipped it out and pointed it at the back of his neck, but was simply content yelling, "Federal Agent! Don't move!!" in his ear. As she saw the two trainers stare at her in surprise, she added, "Sorry. Force of habit." Troi gasped with surprise as she observed the man close-up. "Hey... you're the tour guide from the PSE exhibit!!" Mulder observed the black, box-like object that the man had dropped. "And *that* looks like the 'radiecho' that he showed us during the tour." "Is it just me, or does this seem like a government conspiracy to you?" Samantha sighed. "The authorities will be here soon," Margaret informed the group as she hung up the phone. "Well, we've got him tied up in the back," Katy informed. "That should hold him until the proper authorities can take care of him." "I don't get it," Mulder said, taking a sip of some coffee he had gotten in hopes of warming him up a bit. "Why would anyone want to try and turn a bunch of dolphins against me? And how?" "It's that PSE radiecho. The guy probably lowered the microphone into the water without anyone noticing, and then filled the can with the numbers full of all '23's to insure that Mulder would be picked," Scully explained. "And when Mulder came down to pet the dolphins, the guy set the sound wave frequency to a command like 'Attack and kill' or something. Mulder probably would have been fish food if Troi hadn't accidentally pulled out the microphone." "To put it bluntly," Mulder groaned. The two trainers sighed with relief. "Well, we're just glad that what's happened is not our fault. We had no idea the whole show was rigged." "Someone would also have had to been working fast in order to connect the whole radiecho system together, and still be observant enough to notice what seat Mulder was sitting in, and then to write that down on all the papers. The person probably only got the idea at the last minute and decided to take the opportuntiy while it was there." "Opportuntiy for what? To *kill* me?!" Mulder exclaimed. Scully sighed. "Basically yes, Mulder. It's not a question of protecting a secret anymore...it's out of revenge. You do realize that even though we caught the Syndicate, there are still who-knows-how-many government officials and others in high power who are just plain furious with what we have done to their precious plans, not to mention the rather numerous group of wackos who would actually *prefer* the world to be taken over by an alien virus, and would take any chance they got to get back at you somehow. Even turning a pod of performing dolphins into a pod of ravenous lunatics." "Well why aren't they trying to kill *you*? I mean, as far as saving the world goes, you did all the work." "I don't know. Maybe they're all sexists." "But do we have what it takes for police to prosecute this guy?" Margaret asked. "I mean, who would believe that this man had commited a crime by ordering dolphins into killing someone?" "The other scientists here can easily explain to them about PSE, and the whole deal with the radiecho," Katy added. "Then they can understand where we are coming from as in criminal charges. We just need some proof that the attack on Mr. Mulder was indeed unprovoked and unexpected, and is a result of him coming down to pet the dolphins." "I've got that proof," Samantha exclaimed, extending her video camera. "Cause I got the whole thing on tape!" "You *filmed* me getting torn to bits by insane dolphins, Samantha?!!" Mulder cried. "Well...yeah. But the tapes kind of blurry 'cause I ran down to try and help. But I did get enough for solid evidence," She looked at the trainers. "I just want you to get a *copy* of the tape, 'cause I still want to use it for later events!" "Yeah, I can hardly wait for more 'Tales From The SamCam'..." "Samantha will probably have plenty of tapes by the time this trip is over. You do realize that this is a sign that we're probably going to be trailed by those ravenous government people and insane end-of-the-world dorks all the way to Australia." Mulder took a sip of his coffee. "Well, that makes me feel all better now..." "So I guess this takes care of it," Tina broke in. "It's been an awfully long day, I think we should head back to the beach and get back to our vacation." Mulder looked at Scully. "Mulder, there's nothing more we can do. Let the authorities take care of locking up these creeps. We do need to get back to our vacation," Scully said. Katy looked at them both. "Of course, we'll gladly pay you for the damage the dolphins caused. I know it was a horrible accident, but we still feel awful about the whole thing, especially when you are on a vacation..." "Oh, no, that's okay..." "How about $500 dollars at least?" Mulder grinned. "On the other hand, I think I can get used to getting beat up by dolphins every now and then..." The trainers grinned back. "We can give it to you in pesos. Don't worry about it, it's the least we can do." Troi broke in. "So now that we've got this all worked out, can we go back to the beach? I'm hot, I need a good swim!" Now it was Scully's turn to smile. "You bet...just steer clear of any dolphin-infested waters." 4:32 P.M. Thursday, July 22nd, 1999 Atlantic Ocean Scully stood out on the prow of 'The Believer', watching the sun reflect off the crystal-blue waves. She breathed in the salt sea air deeply, feeling a rush of pleasure in her lungs. She thought that she heard Samantha yell something about someone, and it made her smile. In Cap-Haiten Samantha had gotten into a rather humorous argument with the hotel manager as to why there was no room service. Mulder's sister was almost as much of a character as he was. Speaking of *him*, his worst wounds had healed by now, and the dolphin incident had practically become more of a joke than a bad experience, although Mulder still joked that he was offended each time someone made fun of him for wanting to play wrestle with dolphins. The last week seemed to have gone by very fast. They had stayed in Banes for another day after the dolphin incident before setting sail once again. Then they had spent a day or two in Cap-Haiten in Haiti, once again relaxing and basically enjoying the tropical climate. Although she had enjoyed the sun and the atmosphere and beautiful landscape of Cuba a lot, it felt good to be back on the open ocean. They had been at sea for about three days, and it would be about five more until they stopped again at a city somewhere in South America. Of course, the last day in Cap-Haiten was spent mostly loading up on supplies. In fact, Scully thought that they had bought more than they really needed to. The weather and wind had been perfect so far, and 'The Believer' moved along at a great pace that would rival the best military ships on the open ocean. Scully wished that he father could have seen her like this, she knew he would have been proud. Her thoughts were interrupted by Mulder suddenly appearing beside her on the prow. He grinned. "Watching for any more dolphin attacks?" She rolled her eyes. "For your information, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing." "Oh, and what's that?" "Having a great time." He put his arm around her shoulder. "Scully, I'm sorry to say this... but I have to agree." She smiled broadly. "South America's going to be coming up...you ready?" Mulder returned the smile. "If you're here, Scully...I'm ready for anything." ----------------------------------------------------- THE END OF PART ONE ----------------------------------------------------- Author's Notes: TA-DAA!!! That's it for part one!! This sound good to you? As in would you like to read part two? Well I hope so, 'cause that's what's coming next!! (Well, *duh*...) Part two is on the way, so never fear!! In case you noticed, this series is a lot more *happy* than the previous series. So if you read this expecting more serious angst, sorry!! This is a whole new ballpark!! So, now....PLEEEEEEZE TELL ME what you think! I'm *DESPERATE* for feedback! I live on it! Thanx 4 reading!!! -Alien Girl --------- End forwarded message ----------