Title: Rongbuk
Author: Ravenscion
E-mail: ravenscion@hotmail.com
Rating: R (language, violence, sex)
Category: XR
Keywords: Mulder/Scully romance, some angst
Spoilers: possible for seasons 1-5 and the movie.
Date of First Posting: 29 August 1998
Author's website: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dunes/6767/
Archiving: Please archive at Gossamer.  Others, please email for
permission.

Summary and notes: see chapter 1.

Disclaimer: Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, and all of the other characters
and situations related to the X-Files, belong to Chris Carter, 1013
Productions, and the FOX network.  I am using them without permission
but intend no copyright infringement.

[begin part 10 of 11]
************************************************************************

Rongbuk Monastery
Tuesday, 6 October, 12:29 p.m.

Mulder was doing everything in his power to remain seated, but his
instincts, the inner urges that had propelled him from one momentous
juncture to another throughout his life, made him desperate to stand, to
move, to do something.  'Others' were in the valley, the old monk had
said.  That meant Krycek, and Florescu.  It had to.  They were looking
for the same thing he was, and if they were here, then they were close
to their goal, and had to be anticipated.

The conversation lapsed for a moment after Nawang's translation.  Diana
had begun to look nervously about, as if some threat known or unknown
might at any moment emerge from the dark corners of the shrine room in
which they sat, while only Scully seemed unmoved, serene, accepting the
inevitability of what they had learned.

Mulder considered the situation.  Krycek was here, and had presumably
been searching for the facility that Leslie had been held in.  The
question was whether he had found it, or come close.

"Nawang," he asked.  "What have these 'others' been doing here?  And
where are they now?"

Their guide spoke for a few moments with Jamyang Dorje, then turned back
to Mulder.  "There are nomads here, and they were the ones who brought
this news to Rongbuk.  They reported that foreigners, Westerners and
Chinese together, spent two days in the gully where the river flows
through the hills to the north.  That is the place of which I told you,
where my uncle saw the strange creature years ago."

"Did they find anything?"

"Not that we know of," said Nawang.  "But that is not where your Mr.
Leslie came from.  That place too is known to us; it is further away.
The papers you have show the way to that place."

Mulder turned his attention to the documents that Jamyang Dorje had
given to him.  They were old and yellowed, and seemed to be of the same
heavy paper as the journals of Randolph Sales, which had been left in
the care of the 'Gunmen.'  He scanned the text, which related the
author's progress past the first range of hills north of Rongbuk and to
the second, where the mysterious cave was to be found.

Jamyang Dorje's voice drew Mulder's eyes from the page in his hand, and
he attended to the strange, low cadence of the lama's speech, though it
conveyed nothing immediately understandable to his mind.

Nawang spoke again.  "Mr. Mulder, my uncle has something to teach you.
Will you listen?"

Mulder felt Scully's gaze on him, and he noticed Diana had directed a
quizzical stare at their guide.  Nawang's question struck him as odd,
but in it he sensed a moment of truth, a critical juncture upon which
the outcome of the entire investigation hinged.  He looked directly at
Jamyang Dorje and answered.  "I will listen."

Nawang translated his reply, and Jamyang Dorje spoke again, at length.

"My uncle says, it is no accident that you have come to Rongbuk.  Your
karma has brought you here, and in some way, the three of you are linked
to Mr. Leslie and this matter.  Whether you are here for good or ill is
not known to us, but my uncle and the Rinpoche have decided that it is
necessary to entrust you with this affair.  We do not forget the harm
the Chinese have done to Tibet.  We know the wrong that men with guns
can do."

The guide cleared his throat and then continued.  "My uncle wishes for
me to tell you that he perceives you to be a man dedicated to Truth,
and that is good.  That is in part why he has given you the keys to the
place you seek.  But he cautions you that it is wrong to cling to the
Truth you pursue.  If you grasp at it, if you try to hold it tight to
yourself and not let go, it will slip away and you will never find it.
Your motivations will be stained, and harm will come of your efforts.
You must be of pure heart, your motives must be unselfish, or your
actions will be negative."

"I like to think my motives are pure," said Mulder, uncertain how to
respond to the old monk's lesson.

There was a brief exchange in Tibetan, then Nawang spoke.  "My uncle
says, you must be certain.  You must keep compassion and loving-kindness
foremost in your mind.  This is the most important thing."

Mulder looked over at Scully.  She wore an introspective expression, but
her eyes met his.  No coherent thought formed in his mind, but he felt
her love wash over him in an almost tangible wave, giving him strength
and confidence.  He turned back to Jamyang Dorje.

"I'm ready," he said.

"Then there is something more you must know," said Nawang.  "John Leslie
came to Rongbuk twice."

"What?!" asked Scully and Diana simultaneously.  The two women glanced
at each other, a bit sheepishly, Mulder thought.

Nawang nodded gravely, then recounted how shortly after he had escorted
the first John Leslie to Lhasa, a man of identical appearance arrived
at Rongbuk, seeking shelter and transportation.

The news set Mulder's mind racing.  'Little grey men,' alien shape-
changers, human-alien hybrids, sentient black oil -- he had seen them
all over the course of his tenure on the X-Files, and through the years,
the various alien factions and alignments had become ever more
convoluted.  In Wilkes Land, he had seen what was unquestionably an
alien space ship, a craft that anyone, believer or skeptic, would
recognize as a UFO.  And within it, he had glimpsed yet another
variation, that he had mentally dubbed 'big grey men,' shrieking,
violent creatures, all sinew and claws.

Mulder wished he had been able to learn more than he had, naturally, but
at the time, he had been too concerned with getting Scully to safety to
worry about anything else.

Hearing Nawang's tales of yetis and tracks, he had thought that in Tibet
they would find something similar to what he had seen in Antarctica.  If
approached with caution, Rongbuk might prove a second chance to discover
the secrets he had left behind in Wilkes Land.  Now, though, Mulder was
less certain.  It was difficult to know what the news of a second John
Leslie meant.

But there would be time to think about it later.  "We have to get to the
site.  Can you take us there?"

Nawang nodded, indicated the papers Mulder held.  "I have not been
there, but the place is known to us.  I will guide you."

************************************************************************

North of Rongbuk Monastery
12:50 p.m.

"They're on the move," said Sun Wei-kuo.

The triad man had joined Krycek and Florescu shortly after sending one
of his underlings forward to act as a lookout.  That man had signaled
to his fellows, and after Sun had sent one of them to relieve him,
hurried back to report.  Sun ordered him into place in the ambush and
then translated the gist of his news to Krycek.

Krycek felt energy flare behind his knees in response to Sun's words.
"When, and where?" he asked.

"Your quarry is heading north, along the river, just as you expected.
They just came into clear view, so it will be a few minutes yet."  If
Sun had any emotions concerning the matter, his voice did not betray
them.

"Alright," Krycek said.  "Remind your men: no one gets trigger-happy.  I
want Mulder alive."

"If they resist, my men will shoot," said Sun.

"They won't resist."  Krycek turned to Florescu.  "We've got them,
Radu," he said.

* * *

12:55 p.m.

The Landcruiser lurched on the uneven ground, but the vehicle's four-
wheel drive managed the terrain without difficulty.  North of Rongbuk,
the valley rose from the wide fields of barley and entered a zone of a
rich, rust-colored moss, interrupted by scattered stones and the
occasional boulder.  The river ran through this, and its flat banks
provided a useful roadway for travel to the north.  Mulder rode in the
front this time, his attention glued to the land ahead.  In the
distance, he could see a low hillock, a sentinel over the river's course
through the valley.

A more immediately significant obstacle lay directly in front of them,
however.  A group of Tibetan nomads had brought their yaks to the river
to drink, and the herd formed a roadblock that the sturdiest vehicle
would have to respect.

"Look, it is Kunga!"  Nawang gave Mulder a grin and pointed at one of
the drovers by the water.

"Who's Kunga?"

"Kunga is the one who saw the yeti!  Remember?"  Nawang repeated his
pantomime of a nervous nomad jumping at shadows.

Before Mulder could reply, the nomad himself noticed Nawang and strode
toward the Landcruiser, waving excitedly and gesturing northward.  As
Kunga spoke, Nawang's face changed from amused to grave.

At last, he turned to Mulder, indicating the low hill ahead.  "Kunga
says that men with guns wait beyond the hill."

In the back seat, Diana spoke up in alarm.  "What?  Who?"  There was a
note of panic in her voice that triggered something in Mulder's mind.
He worried at it for a moment, but no connection was made, so he let it
go.  They had a situation to deal with.

Nawang was translating again, shifting his gaze from Mulder to Diana and
back again.  "Kunga says that it is the men we spoke of, the Westerners
and Chinese together."  He focused in on Mulder.  "Is this the 'Krycek'
of whom you spoke?"

"Maybe," said Mulder.  "It doesn't really matter.  We can't go that way,
and we can't stay here.  Is there another way to the site?"

"Of course," said Nawang, moving a hand in a wide sweep.  "The valley is
wide; we can go wherever we please."  He paused.  "It will take longer,
though."

"Doesn't matter," said Mulder.  "We have to get out of here."  Somewhere
in the lizard part of his brain, Mulder could sense the cross hairs of a
rifle's scope trained on his skull.  Urgency mounted in him.  "Drive
south, now" he said.

* * *

1:10 p.m.

The second triad lookout had hurried back from the forward hillock and
given a breathless report to Sun Wei-kuo.  Now, the Chinese had turned
to Krycek, a hint of dismay on his face as he translated the report.

"Mulder has turned aside.  It would seem that the nomads warned him of
our presence."

Frustration and fury blazed in Krycek, but he bit a lip and controlled
himself.  He knew he could only blame himself for this development; the
nomads, and their affiliation with the monks of Rongbuk, had been an
extra factor that he had simply not taken into consideration.  He had
been aware of the risk of his movements being observed, but there hadn't
been any way for him to alleviate it, so he'd let it go.

He took a deep breath.  "Okay," he said, turning to Florescu, "it
doesn't matter.  We still have the advantage of numbers."

"But not surprise," Florescu observed.

Krycek nodded.  There was no denying that.  "I know," he said, "but it
can't be helped."

"So, what now?" asked Sun, surprising Krycek.  The triad man had not
made many such inquiries.

"If we can't take them on the way in, then we follow.  We let them lead
us to the site, and then we take over."  Krycek shouldered his rifle."
"Radu!  Mount up!  Sun, get your men together.  We have to track them."

* * *

1:15 p.m.

Colonel Henderson lowered his binoculars and turned to Jill Whittaker,
who stood next to him as he gazed eastward across the valley.  "Well,
that's quite a little convoy, wouldn't you say?"

Jill raised an eyebrow at him, but did not answer.  Without the
advantage afforded by the binoculars, she could make out little of the
distant vehicles Henderson had spied.  Even so, she realized that few
cars would be traveling in such a remote region, and they had most
likely found one or both of the parties they sought.

Henderson was unperturbed by her silence.  He turned to his men and
called out.  "Let's go, gentlemen.  Phase two of the operation begins
now."

A few 'yes, sir's' drifted back to him as his troops scrambled back into
their Jeeps and fired up the engines.

Though their goal was near, Jill's mood was subdued.  She swayed with
the vehicle as it trundled down the slope, but in her mind's eye, she
still saw the bloody remnants of their earlier ambush.  And there would
likely be more killing soon, she realized.

************************************************************************

Second range of hills, north of Rongbuk Monastery
5:00 p.m.

"Well, here we are," said Mulder.  Nawang had brought the Landcruiser to
a stop in the middle of the canyon, next to the narrow, shallow stream
that flowed through its length.  Above them, a short, easy climb from
the canyon floor, loomed the entrance of the cave that had been
discovered, 64 years previously, by John Leslie and Randolph Sales.

There was nothing remarkable about the cave.  It looked like any of a
half-dozen others they had seen during the hours of driving that had
brought them to the canyon.  Nothing could be heard but natural sounds,
the flow of water in the stream and the low whistling of the wind among
the stones.

Mulder climbed out of the Landcruiser and stretched, looking up at the
canyon wall.  He felt Scully's presence close to him as she also exited
the vehicle.  Nawang and Diana, on its far side, clambered out and
stared up at the cave as well.

"Seems almost anti-climactic," Diana observed.

Her voice interrupted the quiet that had settled around them.  Mulder
scanned the area, getting a feel for the terrain.  Northward, the
canyon bent to the east, while to the south, the direction from which
they had come, it lay nearly straight for most of the way back to the
valley.

"Let's unload, and then get this vehicle out of sight," said Mulder.  He
opened the back of the Landcruiser and hauled out the two packs that
contained his 'UFO kit,' as Scully called it, being careful not to
strain his injured hand.  Then he turned to Nawang, who continued to
stare at the cave, a nervous look on his face.

"Nawang," said Mulder.  He gestured northward.  "How about taking the
Landcruiser around that bend, get it out of view?"  Their guide looked
at him hopefully, and Mulder added: "Tell ya what.  We have lights and
the sketch of the cave.  Why don't you stay with the vehicle and we'll
meet you there when we're done?"

"How long will you be?" asked Nawang, brightening.

Mulder shrugged.  "There's no telling, really.  Be prepared to wait a
while."

Their guide nodded and climbed back into the vehicle, starting up the
engine and driving slowly away.

Mulder felt Scully's touch on his elbow.  He turned to her.

"What about Krycek?" she asked.

"I'm hoping we can check this place out before he figures out where
we've gone."

Scully looked doubtful, but did not protest.

Diana spoke up.  "What are we going to do, now that we're here?"

"I'm not sure," Mulder admitted.  "But we might as well get started."

He opened one of the packs and drew out a heavy-duty flashlight, along
with an icepick, which he hefted once and then slipped into a pocket.
He had donned boots and BDU-style trousers for this occasion, along with
a sweater with reinforced shoulders and elbows.  In the canyon's shadows
and the late afternoon's cooling air, he was grateful for the warmth of
his outfit.

Scully was similarly dressed, though Mulder could not help observing
that she filled out a pair of military pants and a 'commando' sweater a
lot better than most who made a habit of wearing them.  He let his gaze
linger appreciatively on her butt as she bent to pull out her own
flashlight, along with the Geiger counter, which she handed to Diana.

"Ready?" Mulder asked, as Scully shouldered the other pack.

She nodded.

"Ready," added Diana.

A brief climb, up a series of boulders that formed a crude natural
stair, brought them to the mouth of the cave, a gaping maw in the canyon
wall.  Mulder flipped on his flashlight and pointed it inward; the beam,
though bright, seemed thin and feeble in the chthonian dark beyond the
entrance.

For a moment, Mulder considered voicing a stray thought concerning the
potential benefits of spelunking in remote locales with not one but two
attractive women, but then decided that, under the circumstances, his
usual badinage would likely not have the desired results.  He settled
for a more ordinary remark.

"Watch your heads," he said, and stepped into the cave.  Scully and
Diana followed him closely.

The interior was dry and cold.  Within the entrance, the walls opened
into a spacious chamber, from which a narrow passageway extended
forward, sloping slightly downward as well.  The passage had smooth
walls, surprisingly regular, as though it had been cut or melted through
the rock.

They advanced carefully through the cave; the air grew progressively
cooler, and there was no sound but the quiet shuffle of their own
footfalls.  Soon, the route began a series of zig-zags, then
straightened again.  Another minute's walk brought them at last to the
tunnel's end, where they found a large, oval door, made of a strange,
metallic substance, deep cobalt blue in color.  On either side, passages
disappeared into darkness, and next to the door was set an array of
oval buttons, three rows of eight, each inscribed with a glyph of
obscure significance.

Mulder examined the glyphs; each row repeated the same sequence of
eight symbols.

"Access keys," said Mulder.  "What's the combination?"

He heard Scully examining the pages that the smoking man had provided to
Skinner.

"Those are numbers?" asked Diana.  "Are you sure?"

"Don't see what else they could be.  Scully?"

"Hold on...here they are...91-43-12."

"Which end is the zero?" asked Diana.

"Well, we'll try the left, for starters.  Wait a minute...."  He trailed
off.  "How do you key '91' on this panel?"

Scully moved forward, squeezing into the space between Mulder and the
wall, training her own flashlight on the door.  Mulder found that he was
very aware of her proximity, despite their circumstances.

"See?" he asked.  "There are only eight keys in a row.  It doesn't make
sense."

Scully was silent for a long moment, slowly running her flashlight beam
along the three rows of buttons.  "That's the 'zero'," she said at last,
shining her light on one of the three right-most keys.

"How do you know?" asked Diana.

Mulder answered.  "She's right.  That one doesn't match the shapes of
the others.  Our 'zero' is the same way; it outlines an area, whereas
all other digits do not."

"Well, 'six', 'eight', and 'nine' sort of do," said Scully.  "But you're
right.  'Zero' is unique.  I imagine the same principle applies here."

"That still doesn't tell us how to key in '91' on an eight-key array,
though."  Mulder rubbed his chin.  He had to be missing something.

After another silence, Scully spoke up.  "Mulder, when we were in the
ship in Antarctica...."  She paused.

"Hmmm?"

"Did you happen to notice how many fingers the aliens had?"

"What?"  Mulder and Diana asked the question simultaneously.

"I'm serious -- was it four digits on each hand?"

"Scully, I have no idea," said Mulder.  "I was kind of busy with other
concerns at the time.  What difference does it make?"

"Let's suppose it was, just for the sake of argument.  Have you ever
wondered why we count to ten?"

Light dawned.  "Oh my God," said Mulder.  "You're right.  It's base-
eight numbering."

"What do you mean?" Diana asked.

Scully answered.  "We have ten fingers, and when we count, we have a new
character for each number, until we reach ten, whereupon we write a
'one' and a 'zero'.  But that's entirely arbitrary.  Mathematics work
just as well in any numbering system, whatever its base number is.
Base-eight isn't any different, except you write 'one'-'zero' when you
reach eight, instead of ten.  If we'd evolved with eight fingers, we'd
most likely count that way and obsess over turning 32 instead of 40."

"So how do you write '91' in base eight?" asked Diana.

"Well," said Scully, "'100' would be our '64', '130' would be '88',
and..." she paused.  "Our '91' would be '133'...I think."

"Top to bottom?" asked Mulder.

"Give it a try," said Scully.

Mulder keyed in the sequence, was rewarded with an audible click.

"Next?" he asked.

"Ah, '43' would be...'53'," Scully supplied.

Mulder paused.  "Do I key the 'zero'?  Oh, what the hell."  He tapped
the equivalent of 053 and another click could be heard.

"Why didn't Leslie just write the numbers as they are keyed?" Diana
asked suddenly.

Mulder shrugged.  "No idea.  Maybe he didn't want to make it too easy
for anyone else.  As long as he knew the code...."  He shrugged again.

"Type '014'," said Scully.

Mulder complied, and with the third click, the door swung slowly inward,
revealing a long corridor illuminated by a low, blue-green light.  An
air of putrefaction wafted out at them.  Mulder gagged once, then
controlled his urge to vomit, swallowing hard against it.

"I guess the maid didn't come this week," he said.

Diana coughed.  "Good Lord," she said.  "What a stench."

"There's nothing for it," said Mulder.  "Let's go."  He shut off his
light, letting his eyes adjust to the low illumination.

He started inward, Diana and Scully on his heels.  As he stepped through
the doorway, his foot rang on the metallic flooring, giving him pause,
but then he continued forward, stepping more lightly.  On his left,
Diana pressed ahead.

A sudden clanging spun them both around in their tracks; Mulder turned
to see Scully, her flashlight fallen from limp hands, standing in an
enervated posture, her lips parted and her eyes open but empty.

"Scully?" Mulder said, his heart in his mouth.

She made no response.

* * *

Nawang Tsering slouched in the Landcruiser and worried.

He considered himself a decent and helpful fellow, and he had devoted
most of his energies for the past few weeks to his uncle's cause -- a
cause he respected even if he did not wholly understand it -- but there
were limits.  He had taken one look at the cave Mulder had resolved to
explore and decided he wanted no part of it.

For all he knew, the same fate that had befallen Leslie now awaited
Mulder and those who accompanied him.  Nawang had no interest in seeing
Tibet 64 years in the future.  He had been happy to stay behind.

Which meant that he now had to figure out how long to wait before giving
his peculiar guests up for lost and returning to report to his uncle.
He was also worried about the armed men that Kunga had seen in the
valley.  Mulder had been concerned at first, but once they had driven
clear, he had seemed too focused on their objective to give serious
consideration to the possibility of pursuit.

Nawang just hoped Mulder's confidence was not misplaced.

A sudden tap on the window of the Landcruiser jarred him out of his
reverie and any illusions he might have had about the validity of
Mulder's expectations.  Nawang looked up to find himself staring into
the barrel of a pistol, leveled at his head by an unfriendly looking
Chinese.

"Get out," the man said.

Nawang toyed momentarily with the idea of pretending he did not speak
Chinese, then discarded the idea.  The man holding the gun looked as
though he would not hesitate to use it, and Nawang didn't see any point
in playing the hero.

He got out of the Landcruiser.

* * *

Mulder took hold of Scully's arms, above the elbows, resisted the urge
to shake her.  "Scully," he said.  "Can you hear me?"

She did not respond.  Though her eyes were open and she remained
standing, she did not seem completely conscious.  Mulder brought his
face close to hers.  "Dana," he whispered.  He felt cold dread tighten
around his heart.

"There's a strong electro-magnetic field here," Diana observed.  She
pointed to the needle of a compass she had taken out.  It danced wildly
in its case.

"Her implant," Mulder said, understanding coming to him in a rush.  "Get
her light."  Carefully, he lifted Scully in his arms and carried her out
of the doorway, back into the rock tunnel.  He knelt and laid her gently
on the stone floor, pillowing her head in his lap.

Diana followed, carrying Scully's flashlight.  "No reading out here,"
she observed unnecessarily.

Scully's eyelids fluttered and awareness returned to her gaze.  "What
happened?"  Her tone revealed her confusion.

"You blanked out on us in there," Mulder said, beginning to relax.  "I
think your implant was somehow activated when you stepped inside."

Scully attempted to sit up, giving up on the effort mid-way.  "I'm still
dizzy," she said, settling back into Mulder's lap.

He ran his hands lightly along her temples.  "Stay where you are a
minute.  When you feel better, we'll get you out of here."

"What?"

"Just rest, until you're ready to go."

Scully did sit up then, grimacing slightly with the effort.  "You can't
be serious, Mulder," she said.  "You have to go on."

He shook his head.  "You can't go in there, and I'm not leaving you
alone."

Scully placed two hands carefully on the floor and pushed herself to her
feet, accepting Mulder's help to rise but standing on her own.  She
placed a palm on his chest.  "Mulder, you have to keep going.  This is
why we came here."

He opened his mouth to protest further, but Scully silenced him with her
fingertips.  She shook her head.  "You have to go," she said.  Her
expression made it clear that she would brook no refusal.

Mulder felt himself acquiesce.  "Be careful," he said after a moment.

Scully nodded.  "I'll be okay."

"Come on, Fox," said Diana.  Mulder turned to follow her, but stopped as
he felt the pressure of Scully's hand on his arm.  He turned back to her
and she pressed her mouth to his in a brief but intense kiss.

After a moment, she pulled back, releasing him.  "Watch yourself," she
said.

Mulder inclined his head and then turned and followed Diana.  He
couldn't think of anything else to say.

* * *

The triad man brought Nawang back to the cave mouth, where one of his
fellows awaited him.  They didn't ask him any questions.  He glanced
upward but could see nothing there within the cave.  The Westerners had
already gone underground, it appeared.

Nawang did not resist as the Chinese pulled his hands behind his back
and placed handcuffs on his wrists.

"Sit down," the triad man snapped.

Awkwardly, Nawang complied, managing to lean his back against one of the
wheels of another Landcruiser, one of two that had brought their
pursuers to the canyon.

"Now what?" he asked, when his curiosity got the better of his fear.

"Now you keep your mouth shut and wait," said one of the men, gesturing
meaningfully with his pistol.

Nawang decided to keep his mouth shut.

* * *

Mulder and Diana strode deeper into the facility, their footsteps
echoing quietly, metallically, in the blue-green gloom.  Before long,
the cause of the stench became evident.  In some of the facility's
rooms, half-rotted corpses floated in tanks of filthy water, and here
and there, other remains, some scatterings of charred flakes, some no
more than grey-green powder, lay on the floor.  Everywhere, equipment
and devices of unknown design lay in wreckage, as though some implacable
force had swept through, bringing destruction to everything in its path.

Consoles adorned with the peculiar glyphs they had seen on the door sat
inert, their lights and displays broken and inanimate.  Apart from the
low, omni-directional lighting, only the system that had activated
Scully's implant seemed to be in order.

"What happened here?" Diana whispered.  Her face was set in a troubled
expression.

"I don't know," said Mulder.  "A war, maybe."

"A war?"

Mulder didn't bother to elaborate.  Diana tried another tack.  "What was
being done here?"  She pointed to one of the floating corpses.

"Cloning, hybridization," said Mulder.  "I've seen something like that
before.  I guess this is what happens when they cut the power to life-
support."

"Who was doing all this?"

"That's the odd thing.  Nawang's story about his uncle's encounter with
the 'yeti' made me think of the 'grey men' variations, but this set up
reminds me of colonization projects I've come across in America.
Colonization through hybridization, rather than infection."

He paused, then continued.  "This place may have changed hands a few
times.  Scully and I have found evidence that there is more than one
alien faction, and that the factions are in conflict."

"Well, somebody sure was unhappy about what was going on here," said
Diana.  She indicated a charred corpse.  "All this over a little
cloning?"

"There has to be something more," said Mulder.  "Let's keep going."

* * *

Scully leaned against a wall of the cave and massaged her temples.  She
hadn't mentioned it to Mulder, but the activation of her implant had
left her with a pounding headache, and she hadn't been able to muster
the energy to move far from the door to the facility.  Where she leaned,
she could readily make out the faint blue-green glow that emanated from
the open portal.

She hoped Mulder wouldn't be too long, or that he would somehow figure
out what had activated her implant and disable it, allowing her to join
him.  Waiting alone in the darkness was less than pleasant.

A particularly severe wave of pain throbbed in her head, and Scully
placed both hands over her eyes and leaned forward.  A quiet moan
escaped from her before she could stifle it.

Bright light blazed suddenly from the direction of the doorway.  She
lowered her hands and looked up, but she could see nothing beyond the
intense beams from two flashlights pointed at her.

"Agent Scully," a voice said, "this is a most delightful surprise."

Krycek.  Oh, hell, she thought.  And I don't even have a weapon.

"Please don't make any sudden moves, Agent Scully," said a second voice.
"I would hate to have to put a bullet in you, but I would do it, all the
same."

She started to speak, then decided against it.  What was there to be
said?

"Bind her," Krycek commanded, and two figures, both Chinese, Scully
noticed, moved from behind the lights and seized her arms, tying her
wrists roughly behind her.  One of them patted her down, searching for
her gun.

"She's not armed," he said.

The lights were lowered then, and when the spots faded, Scully
recognized Radu Florescu as the owner of the second voice.  He wore a
large pack, but carried a pistol in his right hand.  One of the Chinese
also wore a pack, while Krycek and the other carried 12 gauge, pump-
action shot guns.

Scully's heart sank.  All Mulder had to defend himself was an icepick
that he had literally borrowed from her kitchen.

Krycek addressed his companions.  "Radu, stay here with her.  Sun, take
the flame-thrower and come with me."

"Are you sure?" Florescu asked.

"Mulder won't resist, now that we have her," Krycek said.  "Just don't
let her try anything."  He addressed Sun again.  "Come on, get moving."

The two Chinese exchanged weapons, and then Krycek and Sun entered the
open door of the facility.  Florescu and the other man remained behind,
in a relaxed but ready posture.

Scully felt her nose start to bleed again.

* * *

Mulder stopped and ran his gaze up and down a featureless panel, stark
black in the low light.  No lever or button marred its surface, or that
of the walls to either side of it.  The panel itself looked...strange,
dead, as though light simply fell into it and vanished, without any
reflection.

He turned on his flashlight and examined it again, but the panel
appeared no different under the brighter light.  Mulder clicked it off
and turned to Diana.  "What do you think?"

She took a reading with the Geiger counter.  "Radiation levels are
slightly elevated...not dangerous, though."

"So how are we supposed to open it?"

"Perhaps it opens by remote control," Diana said.  She indicated the
room they were in, which did not seem to have been damaged the was the
rest of the facility had.  "One of these consoles?"

Mulder moved to where Diana had pointed.  The machinery in the room
seemed to be in working order -- a low hum was audible as background
noise -- but none of the screens displayed any information.

There were a few keys on the console, but he could make nothing of the
glyphs inscribed on them.

A faint sound intruded on his awareness.  Mulder turned to Diana again.
"Did you hear that?" he whispered.

Diana nodded, a strange look on her face.  "Footsteps," she said.

Mulder felt an eerie chill crawl up his spine.  "Come on."  He gestured
toward a passage that led away from the noise.

Diana was shaking her head.  "I'm sorry, Fox."

"What."

"I'm sorry, but it's time to stop pretending."

"What are you talking about?"  The sound was repeated.  "We've got to
get out of here."

"It's too late, Fox.  They're on to you.  That's either Krycek or your
smoking friend's people.  There's no point.  The game's over."

"Diana...."  She was backing away from him, toward the sound.  Mulder
began to say more and then realized it was too late.  He turned and
fled into the corridor behind him.

Behind him, he barely heard Diana's final words: "Run, Fox."

* * *

Nawang Tsering was making the best of a bad situation.

He wasn't comfortable, far from it, but considering who his captors
were, he could be thankful that he was merely bound and a bit cold.  He
well knew the cruelty the Chinese could direct toward their Tibetan
subjects.  On balance, he was happy to be overlooked.

The triad men had for the most part ignored him once he had taken his
place by the wheel of the Landcruiser, spending their time smoking and
taking periodic glances at the cave above.  Their conversation had been
crude and uninteresting.

There was a sharp crack, and one of them, in the midst of a debasing
anecdote about a Thai prostitute in Hong Kong, stopped speaking in mid-
sentence and keeled over.  He fell like a sack of barley flung off the
back of an oxcart.  His companion barely had time to squawk in surprise
when a second crack sounded and he too collapsed where he stood.

Nawang was stunned by the amount of blood that flowed out from under
them, dark and oily pools in the fading light.

* * *

It was Krycek, no doubt about it.

Mulder paused in a dark alcove, forcing himself to control his
breathing.  He had not seen his enemy, but he had heard his voice.
There was no mistaking it.

What the hell was Diana's connection with Krycek?

Mulder thought about that for all of a few seconds before another, more
chilling thought arose in his mind.

Scully.  Krycek had followed them into the facility, which meant that
she was probably in his hands.  Mulder cursed himself; he should never
have left her alone.

He listened hard, trying to detect sounds of pursuit.  He wanted to be
pursued; he needed a weapon.

The moments dragged by in silence, and then he heard it -- a soft,
metallic footfall, barely audible, but just loud enough to betray the
one who caused it.

Mulder willed himself to utter silence, relaxing his muscles to allow
him to remain still.  He breathed slowly and shallowly through parted
lips, hoping to hear more, to learn whether his pursuer was alone.

There was only silence, and Mulder decided he would have to just take
his chances.

Although he expected it, was exceptionally ready for it, Krycek's
appearance still took him by surprise, and his body was in motion almost
before he was aware of it.  Krycek only had time for a single, surprised
grunt before Mulder had tackled him, jarring the shotgun from his one-
handed grasp and driving a knee up under his diaphragm.  Krycek's eyes
went wide and he breath shot out in a satisfying whoosh, and then
Mulder hit him hard across the jaw, once, twice, three times.

Krycek slumped beneath him, unconscious.

Mulder scrambled up, seizing the shotgun and looking for enemies, but
saw no one.  The corridor was empty.

He checked the weapon -- a shell was chambered -- then started back
toward the room where he had left Diana.  He moved as quickly as he
could without making noise, carrying the shotgun in a ready position.
He felt a vague throbbing in his left hand.

Mulder paused at the entrance to the room in which he had left Diana;
within, there was no sign of her or anyone else.  Either Krycek had
come alone and ignored her, or, more likely, whoever had been with him
had removed Diana.  Mulder suddenly realized that she had actually
assisted him, forcing him to flee alone and effectively separating
Krycek from his companions.

He didn't have time to wonder about that now, though.

The black panel teased at his awareness, and he was briefly tempted to
experiment with the console, but the thought of Scully in danger quickly
banished that notion.  He turned and hurried back toward the entrance of
the facility.

* * *

It had been one surprise after another, Nawang mused.

He was back in his Landcruiser, hunkered down out of sight.  Just after
his captors had been shot, several soldiers, Westerners, had rushed to
where he sat bound.  One quickly freed him and ordered him to get the
hell out of there.

Nawang hadn't argued.  He'd done the only thing he could think to do,
which was run full out for the Landcruiser.  The men who had freed him
were well-armed and obviously deadly competent, and though he had
briefly wished he could warn Mulder somehow, there hadn't been anything
he could have done.

As he had fled from the scene, Nawang had been momentarily surprised to
see another Westerner, a woman, there as well.  He had no idea what that
meant, but he knew better than to try to satisfy his curiosity.

Whatever was going on, Nawang could ask Mulder about it later -- if his
guest survived, that was.

* * *

Blood flowed over Scully's upper lip in a steady stream.  Periodically,
the Chinese guarding her would wipe her nose and mouth for her, but it
hadn't helped.  The bleeding hadn't stopped.

The pain inside her hadn't stopped either.  Krycek had entered the
facility in pursuit of Mulder, who had no way to defend himself.

She had to do something, anything, to warn him.

Scully looked over at Florescu.  "Ask him to tie my wrists in front of
me, so I can wipe my own face."

The Romanian blinked at her.  "What?"

"Look at me.  He can tie my hands in front, so I can try to stop the
bleeding."

Florescu shook his head.  "He doesn't speak English."

"Will you do it, then?"  Scully tried to sound as piteous as possible.

Florescu gave her a lingering look, even began to do as she asked, then
thought better of it.  "I will not," he said.  "But I'll try to get him
to do it."  He gestured at the Chinese, communicating Scully's request
with an impromptu sign language.  The man seemed confused at first, but
quickly figured out what Florescu wanted him to do.  He took hold of one
of Scully's wrists, began working at her bindings.

At that moment, the Chinese who had followed Krycek returned, dragging
a subdued-looking Diana Fowley with him.

Scully felt her wrists come free and seized the hand of the man behind
her.  She took one quick step and spun, twisting his arm with all the
force she could muster.  The man cried out as white-hot agony shot up
his arm and his legs collapsed under him as his involuntary responses
intervened to save the joints in his arm.  Scully thrust her knee into
his face, breaking his nose, and then pushed him aside, looking up to
see the barrel of Florescu's pistol aimed directly at her.

* * *

Mulder raced down the hallway toward the backs of Diana and her captor;
the injury in his left side screamed at him but he ignored the pain,
forcing his legs to keep working by sheer force of will.  Just a bit
further, now.

And then he was charging into the room, knocking Diana's captor off
balance and turning to see Radu Florescu aiming a gun at Scully's head.
Mulder's mind raced, everything around him slowing to a crawl.  With
preternatural awareness, he could see Florescu's gun arm stabilize,
settling into its aim.  He could see Scully's eyes widen with the
shocked realization that her life was over, and then the shotgun rose as
though of its own accord, roared in his hands.  Florescu's skull
collapsed under the impact of a 12-gauge slug, and his body was flung
away like a broken rag doll.  Mulder worked the action of the gun
clumsily, his injured hand nearly causing him to lose his grip on it,
and then spun toward Diana's captor.

To his shock, Mulder saw that he lay on the floor of the cave, bleeding
from several gunshot wounds in his torso.

"Drop the gun, Agent Mulder," a voice said.

************************************************************************
[end part 10 of 11]