THE X-FILES "AROUND THE WORLD IN TWELVE MONTHS" Part Nine "An Outburst on the Outback" By Alien Girl agentmulder@antisocial.com Rating: PG Classification: Adventure, Mulder/Scully Engaged, and whatever Spoilers: Why the heck do I keep putting this up?? Disclaimer: YEAP...THE DISCLAIMER FROM PART ONE APPLIES TO THIS PART TOO, MATES!!! Song Disclaimer: Ooh...we got another Sarah McLachan song!! Woohoos!!! Contrary to the last one, this one's a bit...more cheerful. It's "Ice Cream", which is a very nice song, and the thing where ice cream is significant will be revealed later...and I don't own it! I NEVER OWN THEM!!!! I'm just a pathetic little non-singer person thing!! Don't pay any attention to me!!! Summary: While staying in Australia, the group stumbles upon the poaching of a rare animal that possesses an important secret...while Mulder and Scully try to get through some problems of their own. Author's Notes: Wow!!! Can't believe that I'm already on part nine!!! :):) I *told* you there was going to be a major plot twist, so hopefully you'll get a taste of what I mean in this story. I'm kinda resorting back to the storyline from Africa with the poachers, but it *is* different, I assure you! Plus there's some other things thown in I think everyone will be interested in.......:) On with the show!!!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------ ***************AROUND THE WORLD IN TWELVE MONTHS****************** .................."An Outburst on the Outback".................... *************************By Alien Girl**************************** ------------------------------------------------------------------ "Ice Cream" Do-do-dee-do-do-do.... Your love, is better than ice cream, Better than anything else that I've tried, Your love, is better than ice cream, Everyone here knows how to fight. And it's a long way down, It's a long way down, It's a long way down, It's a long way down To the place where we started from. Do-do-dee-do-do-do... Your love, is better than chocolate, Better than anything else that I've tried, Oh, love, is better than choclate, Everyone here knows how to cry. And it's a long way down, It's a long way down, It's a long way down, It's a long way down To the place where we started from. Do-do-dee-do-do-do-dee-do-do........ -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ 8:02 A.M. Tuesday, April 13th, 2000 Great Barrier Reef, close to Cape Conway Mulder stood just outside of Scully's bedroom, his knuckles hovering above the wood of her door. He bit his lip nervously, shuffling his feet against the ceurellian blue carpet. He had never thought that the simple task of coming in to get Scully up for breakfast could be so...difficult. (What are you so nervous about, Mulder? All you're doing is waking up Scully. Nothing special.) (Nothing special...) Mulder pulled his hand away from the door, deciding that he need not knock. Instead, he just opened her door, which was unlocked, and stepped inside. Scully was *still* in her bed, her entire body was covered by the comforters except for a few strands of red hair poking out at the top. He quietly walked over to her. "Scully... Hey, Scully! Wake up!" Scully rolled over, pulling her comforters over her neck, staring up with glazed eyes at the figure above her...it was Mulder. "Come on, Scully," He urged, shaking her shoulder. "We're going to dock in Queensland today. You need to get up so we can get ready...Sam already got breakfast set out." Scully groaned loudly, pushing some loose strands of hair out of her face. "'M not hungry..." She mumbled in a drowsy voice. Mulder frowned disapprovingly at her. "Well, no wonder with the way you wouldn't stop gorging yourself on chips last night! I think a good breakfast will make you feel better." "I dunfeel so good..." Scully started to say, when she stopped. Her face turned ashen, and she got a sickened expression on her face... Suddenly regaining her lost energy, she jumped up from her bed and bolted for the nearby bathroom, her hands covering her mouth. Mulder cringed as he heard her empty her stomach's contents into the toilet. When she was finished, Mulder quickly rushed in to help her. Scully flushed the toilet and took a big drink of her water. She appeared relieved, if not still a little sick and drowsy. Mulder helped her out of the bathroom with his hands on her shoulders. "Are you alright?" "Yes, Mulder, I'm *fine*," She said in an irritated voice. "I'm just a little sick, that's all." "Scully, you've been 'just a little sick' for the past week and a half almost! I think you should see a doctor once we get to Australia..." "I'm fine, okay?!" Scully pushed herself away from Mulder's hands. "Just let me take care of myself! I'm not completely lacking in self-support!" Mulder stepped away, slightly taken aback by her angry mood. He felt something like a twinge of regret in his chest. Sighing, he headed for the door. "I'll just tell them you'll be late for breakfast," Then he added to himself, "I just wanted to make you feel better..." Scully heard the comment, and her entire attitude suddenly changed in a flash. "Wait," She said suddenly as Mulder reached for the doorknob. He saw that her entire character seemed to change...her tense muscles smoothed with relaxation, her arms fell limp, and even her face seemed to melt. "That's sweet of you to want me to feel better...." She glided closer to him with an easygoing expression on her face. "Why don't you bring some food down here so we can have breakfast in bed?" Mulder nearly choked on his surprise. He struggled desperately to keep his jaw from dropping. "Are you....sure?" "Mm-hmm," She said, bringing her face close to his. "I'm feeling much better now..." Mulder gulped down a funny feeling in the back of his throat. "No, Scully...let's just go up and eat with the others, okay?" She backed away, seeming a little disappointed. "Fine then." Mulder nodded, and headed out into the hall with Scully following him. He was glad that she had mellowed out suddenly, or things could've taken a turn for the worse. Ever since they had left India, Mulder had felt a little...apprehensive around Scully. Almost avoiding her somewhat. He had no idea what her feelings were on the matter, and he didn't care to discuss it with her, either. Neither of them had said anything, and they kept an invisible wall made of silent bricks between them. But it was always at the forefront of Mulder's mind. He remembered the morning after, the day they had set sail across the Indian Ocean, and the conversation at the breakfast table. Both he and Scully hadn't looked all that convincing...messy hair and tired looks. ("How'd you sleep last night, Fox?") Maggie had asked him. Mulder had nearly burst out laughing. He didn't even remember how he had answered her...he had been too tired to care. He had just made sure that he avoided contact with Scully's eyes...it could have easily given something away. Samantha had been the one to wake him up...much like he just did to Scully, telling him breakfast was ready and he was running late. He was lucky that Sam hadn't decided to investigate further as to why he was having trouble getting up...or why he was washing his sheets when it wasn't his turn to do the laundry. Of course, he trusted Scully that she wouldn't say anything...they both seemed to know the need to keep quiet. So far, Mulder was fairly certain that no one suspected anything...and he intended to keep it that way. "G'day, mate!" Troi's excited voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts. He hadn't even realized that they had already made it to the dining room. "Sam's cooked up an Australian breakfast for us." Mulder and Scully stared at the food on the table. There was toast, sausages, eggs, pancakes and fruit, just like there always was. "This is an *Australian* breakfast, Sam?" Scully asked with one raised eyebrow. "Sure it is! See, the napkins have little kangaroos on them!" She pointed, smiling. The pair exchanged looks and sat down to eat with the rest of the group. About an hour later, their destination was in sight...the coast of Eastern Australia, the most crowded area on the continent. Already some large skyscrapers were in sight, their reflections visible on the crystalline water. It looked like some kind of paradise or beach resort...it was clear why people who moved to get away from it all usually came to Australia. "Reminds me of Cuba," Scully said as she and Mulder gazed out past the ocean, leaning on the rail. "Nice and serene...but it's a little colder than I imagined Australia to be." "That's cause we crossed the equator again," He reminded her. "Since it's April, it's nearing winter here." "Still...I think it'll be nice. On the beach...with this perfect water lapping against the sand...and the sun overhead, with just enough to palm trees to keep the rays out of our eyes..." She rubbed her hand up and down his arm. "Yeah," Mulder sighed. "It'll be nice..." He pulled over just a little, away from her hand. She brought it back to herself, pretending not to notice. In just a little bit, 'The Believer' was up by the shore, cruising inbetween the other boats in the shallows, looking for a place to dock. The pier was exceedingly crowded, and it looked like they would have to continue down the coast in search of a place to drop anchor. Then Troi suddenly noticed an empty platform. "Look, there's a spot!" She cried out as if 'The Believer' were a car trying to find a parking place the Saturday before Christmas. Several dockmen were motioning to 'The Believer' as it turned into the empty space. The immense houseboat was carefully maneuvered alongside the wooden planks. The engines were but and the gangplank was lowered. As they stepped off the boat and onto the dock, a teenager, perhaps 18 or so, greeted them with a large smile and a tip of his hat. "G'day to you, mates," He said in the usual thick Australian accent. "Th' name's Shay Maguire, you can just call me Shay. I'll be helpin' yo'all move your things in." Troi smiled at the young man. He had thick, wavy, blond-gold hair with dark brown highlights, sort of the opposite of her own hair. His eyes were brown and flecked with gold. He was about two inches taller than her, with broad shoulders and long arms and chest. His smile was very large, and sort of scrunched up his face, putting his tanned skin in layers. He wore faded jeans and a brown leather vest with a light yellow shirt, and he seemed to have a scent of grass and ocean spray about him. "H-hi," Troi extended her hand. "I'm Troi." Shay took it, and shook it gently. "Nice meeting you, miss." Maggie nodded to Shay as well. "We're staying at the Dolphin's Bay Hotel, so if you could perhaps give us some directions to the place we can follow you and take some things as well." Shay suddenly appeared surprised. "No ma'am, you can't go to the Dolphin's Bay Hotel." "What do you mean, we can't go? We had reservations set up and all the details taken care of..." "You just can't. There was a big fire over there three days ago. The hotel and the restaurant next door were both burnt to the ground." "Well...*that's* convenient..." Samantha said in a surprised voice. "Do they know what caused the fire?" "Some idiots were smokin' outside the hotel and dropped their butts in the grass. The sparks caught onto the building and the fire department was busy with another fire five blocks down." "Then...I guess this means we don't have to unpack our stuff after all?" Langley asked. "Not until we can find another hotel, I guess," Maggie said with shrugged shoulders. "It'd be kinda embarassing to show up with all our luggage at a pile of burnt cement." Shay suddenly recognized the people standing before him. "Why...you're the Agent Fox Mulder and Dana Scully! Who stopped the government guys and the UFOs and..." "Yes," Mulder lowered his voice. "Just please don't announce it to the world...we're trying to *avoid* attention." "Oh, I won't, mate! No worries there!" "Well...since we're not going to have to spend time unpacking all our things until later...why don't you give us a little tour of the area?" Maggie suggested. "It'd be my pleasure, ma'am! Please follow me!" Shay motioned for them to follow, and took Troi's hand. For a moment, Troi was frozen. Then she remembered how to move her feet and followed Shay down the gangplank. "What's your name again, miss?" He asked her in his Australian accent. "Troi. Troi Carter." "No relatioun to the Mr. Mulder or Ms. Scully?" "Well...not really. They're my foster parents." Shay shook his head with amazement. "Wow...I wonder how many kids would kill you for having foster parents like them!" "Trust me...I wouldn't give them up for the world!" "I'm adopted, too," Shay continued. "Well, not really. More of an orphan, you know. Parents were killed in a plane crash when I was eight. I've been kind of living on my own since then...I've been a dockman's assistant for the longest time. Been working to get some money, so I can buy a plane ticket to one of those islands, maybe Christmas Island. I want to leave Australia and travel, you know." "Trust me...sometimes traveling isn't as easy as it sounds!" "You think it's hard to travel?" "When you've outran a herd of capybaras, crashed into Antarctica because of a storm, been flipped over in a jeep in the middle of a stampede, and falling into an Egyptian tomb...yeah! Sometimes traveling can be hard!" Shay laughed. "I love the adventurous kinds...I've had a few myself." "Really?" Troi asked with sarcastic skepticism. "Yeah I have! I like to go out on the outback sometimes...all kinds of interesting things happen out there." "Guess we'll have to exchange stories, then." "I'd like to hear all the things you've done...I saw your Mr. Mulder and Ms. Scully on TV after that big invasion crisis, and I couldn't help but think of how cool it would be to be in the middle our all that..." "Trust me...there's a lot more to it than you think." Samantha couldn't help but notice how easily Troi and Shay seemed to meet each other and create conversation, and the way Troi seemed okay about letting Shay hold her hand. Normally Troi would be much more apprehensive about those sorts of things. She wondered what it was about Shay that Troi felt so comfortable with...sure, he was good-looking, but Troi was absolutely never one to base opinions entirely off of looks. They had not known each other five minutes and already they were talking as if they were old friends. Samantha then glanced back at Mulder and Scully, who were walking behind her. She wished that they retained the same talkativeness as Troi and Shay. She noticed how distanced they had been, not talking to each other as much and simply not being as affectionate anymore. It almost worried her in a sense. But she decided that whatever it was, Fox and Dana would have to fix it themselves. In the meanwhile, she turned back to the sights and sounds that Shay was introducing to them...the beach was very crowded, but at the same time very clean. Palm trees native only to Australia were tossed to and fro in the comforting ocean breeze. The ocean seemed transparent, and colorful assortments of seawees and coral were just barely visible beneath. Foreign bird songs and unique smells filled the air. The place was very friendly and very inviting. (Perhaps this can be the *one* place where something paranormal doesn't happen...) Samantha looked ahead at Troi and Shay, then behind at Mulder and Scully. (Yeah, right.) 12:38 A.M. Thursday, April 15th, 2000 On board 'The Believer' Mulder blinked confusedly as a soft, persistent thumping emmitted from the back of his head. He fumbled around his desk half-asleep and grasped for his alarm clock...12:38 A.M. (What on earth...) It was then that he realized that the thumping was actually someone knocking on his door. Mulder sat up as best as he could, trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. "Come in...." It was Scully. She was dressed in her pajamas and bathrobe, but it was evident by her appearance that she had not been sleeping like she was. "Scully...what...why are you up when it's so late?" He mumbled in confusion. "I couldn't sleep," She stated simply, then added, "Mulder, could you do me a favor?" This was *not* what Mulder wanted to hear from her. "Can't I do it in the morning?" "No, this can't wait until the morning," She persisted. "I need you to do it for me *tonight*." Mulder sat up completely in bed, rubbing his forehead nervously. He just knew that something bad was going to come of this. "What do you want? It's so late....." "Could you please go to the grocery store on the shore and buy me some ice cream?" *Now* Mulder was awake. "You want me to do WHAT?" "Just go and buy me big tub of ice cream. The store is open 24 hours." Mulder stuttered on his words. "B-but...don't we already have some ice cream on the ship?" "The Lone Gunmen finished it off last night. The only other ice cream is in the freezer on the 2nd floor, and I don't want to go down there now." Mulder was clearly confused. "Well...can't you go ashore and get it *yourself* if you want it so badly?" "I don't want to. I have stomach cramps." He groaned and tossed the comforters back over his head. "If you have cramps then you shouldn't be eating ice cream in the *first* place..." Scully went up and stood over his bed, shaking his shoulders. "*Please*, Mulder! I'll never be able to get to sleep unless you buy me some ice cream!" (Obviously, neither will I...) Mulder thought bitterly. "Alright, FINE...I'll get you some ice cream." As Mulder got up out of bed, Scully gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Mulder! I knew you'd understand!" Mulder grumbled under his breath as he put on another shirt and changed into some pants, with Scully watching him the entire time. He slipped on some sandals and headed for the door. "Oh, and could you get a nice big jar of pickles, too?" Mulder raised his eyebrows at her. "*Pickles*?" "Yeah. Not sweet pickles, get the other kind, the dill pickles. And that's it." Mulder didn't say anything, he just walked out the door. Mulder descended down the gangplank and waved a farewell to Byers, who had volunteered to stay up as a nightwatch. He tread carefully along the dock, with ten dollars in his pocket and the ocean wind in his dark hair. This behavior was not unusual...Scully had been acting strangely for awhile now. They had both been acting strangely. Normally, he wouldn't have walked off to buy ice cream and pickles in the middle of the night just because Scully asked him to. But now...he felt he needed to make something up to her. To somehow fix a grevious fault he had forced upon her. He couldn't help but feel that perhaps it was his fault that she was sick...even though it wouldn't make sense. (I've done enough wrongs on her without her having to get sick now...) And one "wrong" in particular was what bothered him now. He had had to wash his sheets the day after...he had ruined her chances of at least getting *one* thing right with her family, especially Bill. He had ruined their chance of making it perfect, of making it so nothing went wrong. (How come whenever I finally think something is going to be alright, I always make a stupid mistake that makes it take a turn for the worse?) (Because you always do, Mulder. You can't help but screw things up for her.) The other voice stated back, using an ironic choice of words. Mulder sighed. By this time he had walked all the way along the dock and across the beach to where the buildings began. Sleepily, he walked down the street, looking for a grocery store. After 15 minutes of walking he found one. He stepped inside, his mind void of any thoughts. He found a large jar of dill pickles and took some, then went over to the freezer aisle. Much to his dismay, he found that the ice cream only came in 2-gallon tubs. (These Australians really know how to party...) Heaving up a tub of vanilla ice cream, he took the food items to the counter and paid for them. The shopkeeper was no more awake than he was, and forgot to give him a reciept. Then he trudged slowly across the beach with the ice cream and pickles tucked under his arm, too sleepy to feel sorry for himself or for Scully. When he reached the ship, Byers lowered the gangplank for him, giving him a wink. Mulder nodded, and tiredly went downstairs and walked down the hall to Scully's bedroom. He paused for a minute, trying to get his thoughts together, before knocking on the door. "Who is it?" Scully's voice came from within. "Scully, it's me. I got the things you wanted." Scully instantly opened the door and smiled broadly at him. "Mulder, I knew you would come!" She said happily, as if he'd been away for months. Mulder managed a weary grin. "Yeah...I guess you can go to sleep now, huh?" "That's so sweet of you!" Scully lifted the ice cream out of the bag. She stopped. Her smile suddenly dropped into an angry frown as she stared at the 2-gallon tub in disgust. "No! This isn't right at all!" Mulder's heart sank right into his toenails. "What do you *mean* it isn't right?!" She shoved the ice cream back into his arms, her face a mask of disappointment. "You didn't listen to me! You didn't get the right kind!" "I didn't WHAT?" "I don't *want* vanilla! I want chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream! It has to have chunks of stuff in it, I can't have just plain vanilla!" "B-b-but...you never *told* me what kind you wanted specifically!" "Of course I did! I said, 'Get me some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream ', I distinctly remember saying that! I don't understand how you couldn't have heard me..." "Maybe I was still half-asleep..." He mumbled, pressing his fingers to his forehead. She stood in the doorway, her arms akimbo, looking very authoritative in her pajamas and bathrobe. "Well, you really screwed up this one, didn't you?" Mulder hung his head in shame. "Well, this is one mistake you *can* fix. Just go back to the store and exchange the vanilla for some cookie dough." Mulder's shoulders dropped. "I have to go *back*?" "Oh, come on, it won't take you 20 minutes. I just can't stand vanilla right now!" "Then *you* go get the ice cream this time." "No, I still have stomach cramps! Besides, I'm going to go take a nice long bubble bath. What could be better than chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream after a nice, long bubble bath?" "Sleep?" Mulder offered meekly. She shot him a look. "Look who's talking, Mr. Insomnia." "Alright, alright, I'll go," Mulder put away the ice cream bucket and held up his hands in defeat. "Just don't have a heart attack, okay?" "Ooooh...I'll think about it," She gave Mulder a sly wink and closed the door in his face. He stood there in the hallway with the ice cream in the bag, completely speechless and dumbfounded. Then she opened the door again, her eyes sympathetic. "Did I slam the door in your face?" "Yes, you did." "Oh, I'm so sorry....do you have the pickles?" Mulder wordlessly lifted the jar of dill pickles out of the other paper bag and handed it to her. She grinned mischeviously as she observed the pickles. "These'll be good with the ice cream...." Mulder shot her a funny look. "Scully...since when did you eat *pickles* with ice cream?" She glared at him. "Since when did you have time to argue with me? The sooner you get the ice cream, the sooner you can get to sleep. Just go on!" And she slammed the door in his face again. Mulder let out a long, heavy sigh, picked up the grocery bag and started back down the hall. He was beginning to think that Scully had picked up a few ideas from those slavemasters in Egypt. (I can't even get the right kind of ice cream to please her...who knows what it might be like when we're married...) The thought brought back another painful reminder. ("This is one mistake I can fix..." not like another mistake I made. There's no excuse for that, and there's no way to fix it.) With that somber thought, he set out once again on his midnight mission to buy Scully a satisfying supply of ice cream. Awhile later... Mulder trudged up the gangplank, carrying the sack with him, nodding at a sympathetic-faced Byers as he reached the top. "Hey Mulder," Byers acknowledged him as he flipped the switch for the gangplank to be automatically retracted. "Hey," Mulder responded. He sighed as he set down his heavy bag. "Ice cream only comes in 2-gallon buckets here." He looked up to see Byers staring at him quizzically. "What?" Mulder asked," Don't tell me she wants toffee chip now." "No," Byers smiled. "Mulder, tell me. Since when do you make *two* trips to town just because Scully has a *bizarre* midnight craving for chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream?" "With pickles," Mulder added. He sighed, "I don't know." "So why'd you do it?" "She was very...insistent," He said carefully. "Actually, I felt sorry for her. She's been feeling sick lately, and hasn't been eating much at meals. So I guess if she wants ice cream at 1:00 A.M., she's got it." "Honor and obey, in sickness and in health, eh?" "Something like that, yeah." "Well," Byers said, "Goodnight I guess. And good luck." "Thanks," Mulder said ruefully. He watched as Byers walked off to his place as night watch, and then turned himself to head down to the cabins. He opened to door to Scully's room slowly. "Scully?" He called out carefully. "Oops," He heard a plop-splash come from Scully's tiny bathroom. Then he heard water gurguling down a drain. "Come in, Mulder," Scully called. Mulder stepped further into the room, closing the door softly behind him. "I got--" Just then, Scully exited the bathroom, wrapped in her bathrobe and rubbing a towel vigorously through her hair. "Got what, Mulder?" She asked. "Cream...ice...Ice cream. I got the ice cream," Mulder flushed as he stumbled over his words. "Oh, Mulder!" She ran over and lifted the bag from his hands. She opened the top of the bucket with a pop. "Mmmmmm...." She closed her eyes, savoring the smell. She reached one finger into the ice cream, dragging it across the perfect surface, bringing with her finger a trail of the cold ice cream. Quickly before it melted, she popped the ice cream into her mouth, sighing as she slowly drew her finger out of her mouth. Mulder swallowed. Hard. "Spoon?" He asked, his mouth suddenly dry. She looked up at him, a thousand-watt smile lighting up her face. "Mulder, you're wonderful." (Thank you, Lord, I can die happy now,) Mulder couldn't help but grin back. All of a sudden 12:30 A.M. didn't seem such an outrageous time to go shopping. "It was no problem," He said, suddenly feeling dangerously sappy and turning to go. Scully's voice caught him halfway to the door like a fishook. "Wait. Don't go." He turned. She patted the bed with her free hand as she sat down on it. "Stick around for awhile." Mulder could see that Scully was *not* tired, and probably wouldn't be going to sleep anytime soon. And he knew that with her in a mood like *this* he probably wouldn't get any rest anyway, worrying that she might decide to go skinny-dipping, or something else equally un-Scully like. She was in the *weirdest* mood tonight. "Come on," Scully urged him. "I'll share," She held up the enormous tub of ice cream. Mulder sighed, and walked over to sit down next to her. "See? Not so bad," Scully told him, smiling. "I don't bite." (Nope,) Mulder thought, (What you do is much, *much* worse.) Scully spooned herself out another bite of ice cream as she suddenly turned, leaning her back up against the headboard of the bed, and plopping her legs directly into Mulder's lap. The side of her robe shifted, giving Mulder a clear view all the way up to her thigh. (Aw, crap.) Mulder suddenly tried to focus his attention elsewhere and ended up just looking at Scully's face. He noticed that she was already looking back at him, motionless, her spoon stuck halfway into the ice cream. "What are you staring at?" Mulder asked quizzically. "You," Scully answered simply. Mulder's eyebrows shot up. "You're cute." This time, Mulder had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping. What was *with* this woman?!? Scully suddenly seemed to recover herself. She sat up straighter, her eyes seeming to come out of the glazed trance they seemed to have been in. She scooped out another spoonful of ice cream, bringing it towards her mouth, but then stopped, as if something had occured to her. She leaned forward, holding out the spoon to him. "Want some?" For a heartbeat, Mulder was frozen. "Ahhh...that's okay. I'm....fine." "What? Not hungry?" Scully asked, leaning a little closer, scooting up until her knees bumped into his chest. Mulder tried to calm his pounding heart that had just lurched into overdrive. It was sensory overload. Scully had placed to the spoonful of ice cream back in the bucket, and was leaning so close he could feel her breath on his neck. He suddenly got the very distinct impression that it wasn't the ice cream she was interested in anymore. "Ah, Scully..." "Mmm?" She asked innocently, staring at him with an expression that was *anything* but innocent. "I...think....." Mulder began to pull away, licking his suddenly dry lips. "I....should.....go now." Mulder stood up, gently placing Scully's feet on the floor. He took a step when Scully's hand shot out and grabbed his arm. "Stay," She said in a small voice. Mulder closed his eyes tightly, his throat constricting. "I can't," He pulled away from her again, and headed for the door. "Fox?" He stopped with the door half-open and looked back. "Yes?" "Have you ever listened to Sarah McLaughan?" "No, I don't think so. Why?" Scully took another bite of ice cream, rolling it over her tongue thoughtfully. "Never mind." 10:15 P.M. Friday, April 16th, 2000 Rockhampton, Australia "Hey, mate! Can we get some chocolate syrup on this thing?" The waiter came over with a big bottle of Hershey's chocolate syrup and dumped nearly half the bottle onto the cookie dough ice cream sundae that Shay had bought Troi. He tipped his hat to the waiter as Troi eagerly dug into the sundae, chocolate syrup dripping slowly off her spoon. "Man...if I'd thought playing hookey could be so much fun, I'd do it more often!" She laughed. "Why, are you supposed to be doing something right now?" "Well, everyone *thinks* I'm in bed asleep," She whispered in fake secrecy. "But when you said you were going to the outback tonight I decided to sneak out and come along with you." Shay got himself his own spoon and scooped out a bite of ice cream, the chocolate syrup drizzling onto the table. "I love this old soda fountain place. It's one of the few buildings in the city that hasn't been completely torn down and modernized." He paused. "So...how do you like Australia so far?" "Oh, I love it! We went snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef yesterday...I couldn't believe how beautiful it was! And I've never really gone snorkeling before except in Cuba." Shay nodded. "It is a very nice country...and a lot of nice people. But sometimes it feels too isolated." "I know how isolation feels," Troi sighed, her head resting on her palm. "I don't know *how* I survived before I met Dana and Mulder. I really didn't have many friends. *Never* any crushes. No one really wanted me...I was labeled as a 'problem child'. Shay cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why?" "It's a *very* long story...and I don't know if you'll believe me." "I'll believe you, Troi." Troi was caught. "That's the exact same thing Mulder said to me when I first met him." "So how *did* you meet them?" She laughed lightly. "I guess that's where I should start, isn't it?" Then she glanced up around the soda fountain. "But I think we should leave here first." Shay was just *slightly* confused. "Okay.....but let's see who can finish the sundae first!" Troi instantly took up the challenge, and dug into the ice cream eagerly with her spoon. Shay decided to gain an advantage, and he took *two* spoons, one in each hand, and began eating one spoonful after the other. "Hey! Stop cheating, you hog!" "You gonna talk or you gonna eat? I'm winnin' here!" Troi dug in even faster. Although Shay had the advantage with his two spoons, it took him awhile to get from one spoonful to the next since he was scooping out pieces that were too big to gulp down. Troi was able to pull ahead by using multiple scoops. She stuffed her cheeks so full of cookie dough ice cream and chocolate syrup that she looked like a chipmunk. For every two spoonfuls that Shay got she was able to get three. Just as Troi scooped up the last piece of cookie dough in the dish, she stopped and clutched at her mouth. "Agggghhhhhh!!! Brain freeze! Brain freeze!!!" While she was distracted, Shay scooped up the last piece off her spoon and popped it into his mouth. "I win!" "No way, that is *not* fair! I got the last piece first!" "But you didn't *eat* it!" "That's 'cause you stole it from me!" "What, you want me to give it back?" "No, thank you! Let's just go to that place you said you were going." Shay got up from the stool, throwing a few dollars on the counter to pay for the sundae. "We'll have to walk aways, but it's not too far. Just tell me your story on the way." The pair walked out of the soda fountain. It was late, but the crowded beach was still full of lights and noises, blocking out the stars with its intensity. They walked down an old, grassy path, walking away from the main city, with just a few buildings scattered here and there. "I think I met Dana and Mulder when I was 15..." Troi began. "At a police station in D.C. I was trying to stop a gang robbery and murder because I..." She stopped suddenly, choking slightly. "Because you what?" Troi was obviously very hesitant. ".....I had a dream that it would happen. I dreamed about it, and even though I knew I wasn't supposed to, I tried to stop it anyway....." Shay was silent. "And they took me to a police station, where I met Dana and Mulder. At first I thought they were just some more dumb cops, but just the way that Mulder talked to me and how understanding Dana was...I was really upset when I had to go back to the Home. *Really* upset. I had a fight with one of the headmistresses there, and ran upstairs to an attic just to get away from it all.....and I...I had a dream about the men who were working with the aliens," She finally admitted. "About them talking, and...a day later I heard it all over again...just the way I saw it in my dream." Shay didn't answer her for a moment. "So whatever you see in your dreams comes true?" Troi nodded. "And a few other things happened...I barely escaped getting caught by those men, but I got injured very badly. That's how I met up with Dana and Mulder again. Dana offered to keep me in custody so I wouldn't have to go back to the Home, and then she said that she wanted to adopt me. You wouldn't believe how happy I was! I think it's still probably the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. Mulder agreed to sign the papers as the father, even though at the time he and Dana were technically only partners. But now that's gonna change since now Dana and Mulder are engaged and they're going to get married once we get back to D.C.!" "Really?" Shay commented as he helped Troi over an old chain-link fence. "Yeah. They got engaged in Paris...it was a really big thing. But before we left on the trip so many things happened I can't even begin to describe it..." "What did you do during that time right before the big invasion?" "It's not a pretty story. Dana was gone almost the entire time and she was...not in a good condition. The entire time we thought that Mulder was dead. It frightened me because she was very withdrawn and very angry. We were always running from assassins and avoiding attention, and then when we found out how to stop the invasion it was pure insanity. There were armies and giant aliens and ships and....you wouldn't believe it if I told you it all!" They had finally escaped the closeness of the city, and the smells and sounds of nature were beginning to overpower those of civilization. The ground was covered with long, thick, slightly-damp grass. A few trees and a small range of hilltops bordered the horizon. Fireflies hovered about in the grass like stars that had journeyed to earth. With one quick swipe, Shay reached out into the grass and grabbed a firefly. It flickered on and off in his hand, and he opened his thumb just enough so that Troi could see the tiny insect. "It's beautiful," Troi said. "I can't remember the last time I saw a firefly...." "If I ever do get to go out to the islands, I know that I'll miss the wildlife most. I have a wombat that comes around close to where I live, and I feed him every night. He must be a crafty little guy...he hasn't been caught by a dingo or hit by a car yet. But my boss won't let me have any pets so I can't bring him in. I've studied Australian wildlife, and I know just about every kind of animal that exists on the continent." He let the firefly go, and it flittered away to camoflogue with the stars. "Please finish your story!" He said, turning back to Troi. She shrugged. "There's not that much more to tell. After about two months of that torture we figured out how to stop the aliens, and we went to an underground base in Michigan, where we found Mulder. What happened to him is a whole 'nother story I'm not even going to get into right now. But after we stopped the invasion, we headed out on this trip!" Shay sighed. "I wish I could have *that* much excitement." "It's very good, but...at the same time I can't wait until we get back to D.C. I guess I sort of agree with Dana...I want to settle down, to find a place where I can really call home forever. Make friends with some people my own age." "I know the feeling." Troi glanced over at him. "What? You don't know anyone your age?" Shay shook his head sadly. "Not really. I know a few people, but not well enough to really call them friends. I don't go to school. I don't have the money to go to driving lessons so I can get my license. I sleep in these drafty dorms along with the other dockmen. And the only girls I've ever met are the ones that come in on ships, like cruise ships." Troi, for some reason, seemed to react defensively to the comment. "You've met other girls before?" She asked in a low voice. Shay turned his attention from the stars back to Troi. "Mm-hmm. Some have been very nice, some have been complete idiots. But...." He also lowered his voice. "None of them have ever really been like you before." For once in her life, Troi was at a loss for words. She tried to avoid Shay's eyes, telling herself that it was dangerous, that she shouldn't let herself get carried away...but she couldn't help herself. She felt a funny feeling in her stomach rise up into her throat as Shay looked at her. It was very unusual, very unfamiliar, very frightening...yet at the same time very inviting. It was something that she had never really experienced before. Her first impulse was to pull away and not sink in. (Fight it!) Her instincts said. (Danger! Threat to the ego! Threat to the ego! Resist, fight, resist!) But her emotions told her otherwise. She allowed herself to sink into Shay's gold-brown eyes, and all of her defense systems instantly collapsed. "What's wrong?" Shay's voice sounded like an explosion inside her head. "You looked a little pale there for a minute." Troi opened and closed her mouth a few times. "I...no. Nothing's wrong...." "Maybe you should sit down for a minute..." Despite the dampness of the grass, Troi instantly obeyed. Shay sat down next to her. He continued to gaze out at the outback beyond and the stars above. "Have you ever had that really weird feeling?" Shay asked suddenly. "That feeling where you meet someone, and you barely even know them, but at the same time they feel so....right? And then you completely forget all the other people in your life that you've ever really liked, and all you can think about is that one person? And you really don't know what it is, but you don't really care, you're just glad that it is?" From somewhere off in the distance, a dingo howled. "No...." Troi answered slowly. "I can't really say that I have." "Neither have I." There was silence for a moment. "Do you think you ever will?" "Yes." "When?" "Soon," Troi felt a broad smile sweep across her face. "I think very soon." 12:11 P.M. Sunday, April 18th, 2000 Rockhampton, Australia Moby tugged on Langley's pant leg, his tail wagging back and forth like a convulsing furby. Langley tried to shoo the dog away. "Go on! I don't wanna play with you right now?" Moby let go of Langley's leg. Seeing that this wasn't working, he tried a different attack...the dreaded sad-puppy-dog-face that he had learned from Mulder. He whined a little for effect. "Oh....oh, no...." Langley groaned as the dog's sad brown eyes bore into his. "Please don't look at me like that..." Another whine. "I give up!" Langley wailed, getting up from his chair so that he could throw the ball to Moby. The little pomeranean bounced up and down like a kangaroo with excitement. "Aw, Langley! You aren't going to leave me here, are you?" Frohike called. Langley shrugged helplessly. "Resistance is futile, I guess!" Frohike, sighed, and watched as Langley ran off down the beach with Moby hard on his heels. Byers was over at another table, engaged in a conversation with Samantha. (When is he ever *not* around Samantha...) Frohike thought to himself. He picked at his food dully, suddenly feeling very lonesome. They were eating lunch at an outdoor cafe' close to the beach, and were afterwards going to drive out to the outback so Shay could boast off some of the local wildlife. Shay was another thing...Troi was constantly talking to him and laughing with him. Frohike didn't know much about Troi's life before she met Mulder and Scully, but he still had a feeling that this was a turning point in Troi's life. "So when are we leaving?" "Tomorrow. And we're leaving in two days." "So soon? What if we don't find it by then?" "We will. Eric has picked out its habitat, all we have to do is wait for it and kill it when it comes." Frohike caughte part of the conversation taking place between three men sitting a few tables away from their main group. His back was turned to them, so he couldn't see them, but he could still hear them. "The whole idea sounds preposterous to me," The third said in a slight British accent. "The catiburr's just a little weasel! I still think we're just wasting our time." "You heard what the general said! We don't have a say in the matter. It's vital if they're ever going to completely destroy the evidence." Frohike's gut instincts instantly tuned him into the meaning of the conversation, especially the words "destroy the evidence". It could mean any number of things...government secrets, experiments, or maybe even aliens. And what was the thing they called a catiburr? It must be a code name...but for what?" "It's just a stupid fat weasel. No big deal. We kill it, it's done, no one finds out." "Alright, fine. But what if the authorities come after us?" "They won't. This is a free country. No one poaches here, so they have nothing to suspect." The more they talked, the more confusing it got for Frohike. Poaching? Was the catiburr an animal then, and not a code name? And why did they want to kill it? (Whatever it is...it's our duty to stop it.) Frohike instantly got up from his table and walked over to where Mulder and Scully were sitting. Mulder was trying to carry on a conversation with Scully, but she seemed to busy daydreaming and picking at her food to really pay attention. Frohike interrupted Mulder mid-sentence and whispered something in his ear. "You want us to do WHAT?" "Shhhh, not so loud!" Frohike shushed him. "They could hear us!" "Who could hear us?" "They're just a few tables away! They're planning on killing some native animal, or something called a catiburr." "What the heck is that?" "I don't know. But I have a feeling that whatever it is, it's important. They were talking about 'destroying the evidence'." "Mulder, what are you talking about?" Scully interrupted. "Frohike, we can't just run off on a camping trip right now!" Mulder started to say again. "Why not? Let's go camping!" Scully exclaimed completely out of the blue. "Well...don't you want to go to Sydney like we were going to? And see those towers?" "No! I want to go camping!" Mulder was obviously taken aback by the change of plans. "Ooookay, then...I guess we won't go to Sydney. We'll go camping in the outback." "Shhhhhh!!" Frohike shushed again. "Wait a minute...why are we going camping, anyway?" Scully asked. Mulder rolled his eyes. "Ask Frohike." "I just overheard some people talking about killing an animal that has a connection to evidence. I think if we also go out onto the outback we can stop them and perhaps preserve the evidence!" "Evidence of *what*?" "Stop with all the questions! I just really think we should do this. What if this could be evidence to expose a second conspiracy? Or another apocalypse?" "Or a big waste of our time?" Mulder grumbled. "Anyway, it'll only be for a few days," Frohike insisted. "That's all the time we have to catch the guys going out there. We might still have time to go to Sydney." "Yeah, it might be fun!" Scully gave Mulder a little swat on the shoulder. "Stop being such a party pooper!" "Alright, I'm fine with it!" Mulder said. "But why don't we just call the authorities if we want these strange people caught?" "Because we don't have any names, or any physical proof to support our beliefs. Besides, Scully and you *are* the authorities," Frohike argued. "What's going on?" Samantha asked from a nearby table at hearing their excited voices. "We're going on a little camping trip..." Mulder sighed. "Frohike here says we should spend a few days on the outback in hopes of catching some men he says he overheard talking about destroying some evidence." Byers shot Frohike a look. "*Really*, Frohike?" "I'm positive about this one! Have any of my hunches ever been wrong?" "Yes." "Exactly! This isn't a hunch! This is an assumption." "Can Shay come with us, too?" Troi cried excitedly. "Hold on a second," Maggie called for silence. "Does everyone thiink we should do this? 'Cause we'll lose money from those reserved plane tickets to Sydney." Most everyone raised their hand, except perhaps Tina and Moby, because he didn't have a hand. Maggie sighed. It was obvious that she had been expecting this. "Alright, then...I guess we *are* going camping for a few days." She noticed Troi's pleading expression. "And I think there will be enough tent space for Shay to come along. We could use the expertise with the outback and the wildlife anyway." "Yes!" Troi exclaimed, giving Shay a quick, tight hug. "You get to come with us!" "I can take off a few days from the dock anytime," Shay replied, "And it would especially be this time!" "Those guys didn't hear us, did they?" It seemed Frohike was still concerned about that. "I don't think so. Come on...if we're going to leave, we're going to have to leave now. Might as well start packing." 3:05 P.M. Sunday, April 18th, 2000 On board 'The Believer' "Let's see...we've got five two-person tents, about three kerosine lamps, and three ice chests packed with food. That's the main stuff." Maggie counted. "I don't know *how* we're going to fit ten people and all this junk into just one jeep!" Samantha sighed. "The whole thing is just very random...and I never thought I'd actually see Scully agree with Frohike!" Maggie and Samantha had been assigned with the difficult task of packing materials and provisions for their unexpected three-day campout on the outback. Neither Maggie nor Samantha had any real objections to the trip, they just weren't sure if Frohike's "assumptions" were necessarily true. "Well, I don't know about Dana..." Maggie sighed, her voice gaining a slightly anxious undertone. "Haven't you noticed that she's been acting strangely lately?" Samantha was puzzled. "I've noticed a change in both Dana and Fox, but I haven't really been paying attention to Dana. What do you mean, she's been acting strangely?" "Well, she just hasn't been herself lately. She hardly eats anything at meals, but then stays up till midnight snacking on potato chips and oreos. And then in the morning she's always getting sick over the edge of the boat or in the bathroom, and she's never gotten seasick before." Samantha nodded as she folded some blankets. "That is strange. But I've just noticed the way she acts around Fox...she yells at him, and he just stands there and takes it like he's expecting it. And then just a few minutes later she's completely overly-friendly to him and he still doesn't respond!" Maggie finished packing two-dozen packs of some sodas made in Australia. She stopped, as though a thought suddenly occured to her. "I wonder if...............no, that's not possible." "What's not possible?" Samantha asked. "No, it's nothing....." "What do you mean?" She questioned further. Maggie shook her head in confusion. "I can't help but remember that I was always acting the way Dana is now right before she was born..." Samantha raised her eyebrows at Scully's mother. "You think that Dana could be........?" "That's just it, that's why it's impossible. She *can't* have children. It's because of her...." "I know, she told me," Samantha finished. "I really felt for her when she told me..." "It was...difficult," Maggie swallowed down a lump in the back of her throat. "She told me around Christmas a few years ago, right before the whole ordeal with Emily. I could tell she was really distracted the entire time, and I...wish there was some way to...." "....Fix it. I've thought about it. As far as I know, there is none." There was a long silence. "Besides," Maggie added, "I think they would've told us if there was any...reason to suspect such a thing." "Or perhaps not." Maggie stuttered, unsure of how to respond to the thought. "Well, as I said before, it can't be that at all. Do you have any ideas on what else it could be?" Samantha shrugged. "No clue." Maggie clasped up the last of the ice chests. "Whatever it is, I'm sure that it'll somehow be fixed. Being sick doesn't last forever." "Yeah...but in the meantime, hide the potato chips!" 5:22 P.M. Monday, April 19th, 2000 Somewhere in the Australian Outback "I don't see anything yet!!" Langley called skeptically from above. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tina shot a weary glance at her son. "He could get hurt up there!" Mulder shrugged. "Don't ask me...Langley's the one who volunteered!" "At least now there's more room in the jeep!" Troi added. Langley had volunteered for the dangerous job of sitting on top of the jeep with a pair of binoculars, searching for anything that could be some men looking suspicious, or a catiburr, whatever it was. Langley had wedged himself between two pieces of luggage to (hopefully) ensure that he wouldn't be thrown off, except that he thought that he had cut off the circulation to his legs. He had been up on top of the jeep for nearly two hours, and he was beginning to get *really* tried. "Hey! Can someone else come up here and look for awhile?" The jeep rattled as it bounced over the uneven road, and Mulder thought he heard Langley shout again. Obviously shock absorbers were not very popular in Australia. "Mulder...I think I'm gonna be sick..." Mulder glanced over next to him, and saw Scully looking rather pale, her teeth rattling right along with the car. (Oh, no....I *knew* I should've given her a window seat...) Troi, who was squished in next to Scully, was not all that eager to find out what Scully had for lunch. "Can we stop the jeep *please*??" "Scully, you can't get sick now! There's nothing besides rocks out there, there's no place to park the jeep!" Scully clutched her stomach, her expression showing that she was anything but well. "I just *really* don't feel good..." "What's going on down there?! Watch where you're going!" Langley yelled from above. "Look, there's a turnout up ahead!" Byers pointed excitedly. "Just hold on, Scully, we'll let you out in a minute," Mulder reassured her, even though he was mostly reassuring himself. They bumped and jostled and grounded over the unpaved road, until they reached the tiny turnout, and Mulder quickly parked the jeep with a screeching halt, causing Langley to cry out again. Mulder threw the door open so that Scully could jump out. Moby figured that this was an opportune time to mark his territory and leaped out as well. Everyone got out of the jeep just so they could stretch and get their blood flowing again. While Scully walked over to a large cropping of rocks, Mulder stood there, stretching his arms luxuriously. He gazed out at the Australian outback beyond. There were mostly rocks, red-orange in color, and large tufts of yellowish grass. Beyond that he could see much grassier areas, with juniper bushes and tall, solitary trees. The ground was mostly sand and clay, making it difficult for any lush vegitation to grow. A red-rocked plateau jotted out of the horizon. The sky was purple, indicating that evening was closing in and soon they would have to stop and make camp. (So far...nothing. No men, no animal. Maybe I was an idiot to let Frohike talk me into this...) He noticed Scully heading back to the jeep. "Hey, Scully! Are you feeling better now?" "Yeah..." She said in a puzzled voice. "Only I didn't throw up. As soon as I got out of the jeep I felt fine. I don't feel sick anymore." "Are you sure?" Mulder asked nervously. "Yeah. I probably just got carsick with all that bumping around and everything. It's no big deal," She shrugged, and climbed back into the jeep. Mulder, deciding that there was no need to press further into the matter, also climbed back into the jeep and started the ignition. "It's okay, guys...Scully's feeling better now. We'll drive for about half an hour more before stopping for the night," He said. They had not gone five minutes down the road when suddenly a tiny wombat ran across the road, causing Mulder to hit the brakes hard. SKRAAAAAAAAAACH!!!! The sudden stop cause everyone to be thrown forward in their seats. And as Scully was thrown forward, she suddenly did what she should've done five minutes ago. There was a silence. Mulder stared down disgustedly at the odorus mess all over the car floor...and his shoes. He shot Scully a look. All she could do was shrug weakly and give him a look that said, "Got any paper towels?" "That's it," Troi muttered. "I volunteer to ride on top of the car." 6:16 A.M. Tuesday, April 20th, 2000 Somewhere in the Australian Outback Troi giggled in her sleep, moving around in her sleeping bag and rolling over to get comfortable again. Only a few minutes later she felt the tickling sensation again, and she snickered. "Shay, stopathat..." She kicked reflexively. YALP! Troi opened her eyes at the sound of a startled cry. The world didn't make sense...it smelled funny, and was a blur of tan and dark blue. Then she remembered. (The tent...we were camping out....where? Australia.) Troi sat up quickly, rubbing the gunk out of her eyes. She still felt something moving around her feet. She glanced over to the other side of the tent. Shay was wrapped in his own sleeping bag, still asleep. Whatever this thing was, it was *not* Shay. Suddenly feeling worried, Troi tossed over her covers to see what the thing was.... It was an animal. But it wasn't one that she recognized. It was about the size of a small badger, but it more resembled a wombat. It had a round, bulky body, and a long, thick tail, almost like a lizard's tail. Across its back it had five brownish stripes, and its fur was an orange-tan color. Its feet were *very* strange...they were flat and slightly webbed, like a beaver's or an otter's. The face was like that of a cat, with pointed ears, whiskers, and large, brown curious eyes. Only the eyes were much larger than that of a normal cats'. The strange creature cocked its face at her. Brrrrrrruuuuuuuu? The thing made a noise that sounded like a cross between a cat purring and a dove cooing. Troi smiled at the animal, judging from its appearance and voice that it would not be a threat to her. "Hi little guy!" She whispered gently, trying not to frighten it. She reached out her hand towards it. The animal didn't move. "What are you, anyway?" She moved a little closer... She yanked her hand back suddenly as the thing moved, seeming to change into a large, hairy blur. She relaxed as she realized that it was only shaking itself, like a dog. Droplets of dew splattered all over her sleeping bag. (How did this thing get in here?) The furry badger/otter/cat began to walk closer to her, but at the same time it seemed to be ignoring her. It sniffed at the sleeping bag and made that strange burring coo. Troi decided it was safe to try and touch the thing again. She pet its back, the fur feeling slightly rough and slightly damp. Still it seemed to take no notice of her. "You're so cute!" Troi said to the big-eyed mammal. She just wished she could identify it. It was definitely not a cat. It could be a platypus, except the head and tail weren't right. It was too large to be a wombat. Not a kangaroo, koala or dingo. It didn't look like a marsupial at all, in fact. (Shay would know what it is!) Still petting the animal so that it wouldn't run away, she twisted around and shook Shay's shoulder excitedly. "Hey, Shay! Wake up, look at this!" Shay's only answer was a loud snore. Troi looked from Shay back to the animal, slightly irritated. She tried again, "Wake up, you nocturnal thing!" Still no answer. It was then that Troi tried a different approach. She picked up the animal completely, and sat it down on Shay's head. "OOOOFFFFFFF!!!" The surprised Australian woke up instantly. The creature let out another yalp as Shay sat up suddenly, throwing it off. He sputtered in surprise, clumps of blondish hair hanging in his face. "Hey Shay!" Troi's face greeted him the moment he opened his eyes. She pointed to the dazzed and confused animal. "Look what woke me up this morning! Do you know what it is?" Shay blinked his eyes at Troi as if she had just said something to him in Swahili. "What the heck did you say?" His sleepy Australian accent made him sound like he was drunk. Troi grabbed the thing up again. It was so loose and unresisting it felt like she was holding a giant beanie baby. "I found this in the tent." Shay stared at the big, brown eyes and twitching whiskers with a look of stupidity. "What is it?" "That's what I'm asking YOU!" The creature began to squirm, so Troi set it down on Shay's sleeping bag. The thing sniffed curiously at Shay. "Whatever it is, it's very docile," Troi commented. "It doesn't mind being picked up and handled." Shay hesitated, then pet the animal on the head. The fuzziness in his mind began to burn off as he tried to remember the pictures of Australian wildlife that he had studied. "It's mammilian...doesn't appear to be a marsupial...doesn't have the body structure of a feline...I don't know. It could be a subspecies of a platypus or wombat. Or it could be the result of a cross-breeding between the two." "Somehow, I don't think so..." At that moment, there came a loud, continuous yapping from outside the tent. The animal looked up at the sound, eyes wide with fright. Moby the pomeranean squeezed beneath the tent wall and popped into the tent, barking loudly. He spotted the source of the foreign smell and bounced up and down like the squeak toys he loved to chew. The creature yelped and dove behind Troi for cover. Moby was barking, thinking that he was somehow protecting Troi and Shay from this intruder. "Shush, you mutt! You're going to wake everyone else up!" Troi hissed angrily. "Too late," Mulder poked his head into the tent. "What exactly is going on in here?" "Ohhhhhhh, nothing..." At that moment, the creature peeked out from behind Troi and stared at Mulder. "Buuurrrr-buuuurrrrr?" "What's that?" Mulder asked, pointing to the creature. "We don't know. I found it in the tent when I woke up this morning," She answered. Mulder was obviously confused. "So why was it in your tent?" "I don't know..." Troi paused as she felt the creature crawl into her lap. She grinned. "...But I think it likes me." Mulder was about to order Troi to get rid of the animal before it peed on the sleeping bag, but then stopped. If Shay didn't know what the animal was, then... "Hold on, I'll be right back," He said, quickly exiting the tent. Troi glanced over at her alarm clock...6:27 A.M. Mulder would never try to wake up anyone, especially Scully, at 6:27 in the morning unless he was on to something... It what seemed like no time at all, Mulder returned with everyone else in the group...obviously looking much less interested in strange animals than Mulder. Scully tiredly rubbed yellowish junk out of her eyes and pushed her rebellious hair into place. "Mulder, I dunthink wecin all fit indat tent..." "Troi, can you bring that thing out here?" Troi walked out of the tent, still in her pajamas, the thing still hanging limp in her arms. About three people said, "What's that?" at the same time. "We don't know!" Troi said, getting tired of answering the same question over and over again. "Shay doesn't know what it is either, and he knows everything about Australian wildlife." "Which makes me think..." Mulder turned back to the rest of the sleepy onlookers. "...That perhaps *this* thing is the catiburr!" No one said a word. Whether out of shock or the fact that they were all still half-asleep Mulder couldn't tell. But Troi was *very* surprised by this sudden observation, and how it suddenly seemed to make the most sense. The animal...or catiburr...cooed in response. "Are you sure, Mulder?" Scully asked, as if it were the only thing she could think of to say. "I'm pretty sure! What else could it be?" "An oversized platypus?" Langley shrugged. "It's too early in the morning for this..." "I think Mulder's right!" Troi held out the catiburr for inspection as if she were chosing a new puppy. It looked back at her with slight curiosity. "It's got a cat-like face and it makes a burring sound...a catiburr!" Samantha stepped closer to Troi and the catiburr, beginning to understand what her brother was talking about. She smiled at the cute, fuzzy face. "How about that! We didn't find the catiburr...it found us!" Everyone else came awake at this realization, and began to close in around Troi for a closer look at the mysterious animal. "It's so calm!" Maggie remarked. "Why would anyone want to kill such a harmless creature?" "And why has no one seen it yet? Are there more of it, or is it one of a kind?" "It could be that this is the result of a mutation in the DNA of a wombat or wildcat. It could be a subspecies of either that has only just appeared and is now dying out rapidly. I doubt with those short legs and flat, webbed feet that it's able to outrun predators like dingoes or gators. The body is not built for swimming, and I doubt it can dig. Certainly can't climb, and has poor camoflogue. It probably has a small family, if any, that has been dying out quickly," Scully observed, falling into her normal scientific-analysis self. "Still, the fact is that we found it!" Mulder concluded. "We got to it before those men did. And since there probably aren't any more of its kind, we can keep it safe someplace where the men can't find it." Maggie was not convinced. "I'd still like to know their reasons behind their wanting to kill it in the first place..." The catiburr put its paws up on Troi's shoulders and instantly began to lick her face. "Uggghhh, eeewwww! Get offa me, you big dumb hairball!" Troi groaned, suddenly not wanting to hold the catiburr anymore. "Here," Shay took the animal out of her arms. "Someone go get it a bowl of water. That might keep it busy." Tina ran off to do just that. Troi disgustedly wiped catiburr saliva from her cheeks and chin. "Oh, yuck! Even Moby's drool isn't this bad!!" "Wait a minute..." Samantha stopped Troi before she wiped the slime off her hands. "I want to see that stuff..." "What? It's just catiburr slobber..." Samantha wiped a bit of the drool off Troi's hand, and stared at it carefully. The drool was a yellowish translucent substance, and was *very* sticky, almost like gum. "I've seen this stuff before..." Mulder raised his eyebrows at Samantha. "You've seen *catiburr drool* before?" "Not quite catiburr drool, but..." Samantha fell silent and closed her eyes, as if deep in thought. Everyone else was silent as well, waiting for her answer... Samantha suddenly opened her eyes, her face lighting up with an electric smile. "I've got it! I know why they want to kill the catiburr!" "What?" Samantha excitedly waved her slobber-covered hand around. "I *have* seen this stuff before...but not in Australia, in a laboratory. One of the clones was using it in a study involving..." She paused for a minute. "The chips. And the cancer." Samantha waited for a response. When there wasn't one, she continued... "They were trying to develop their own chip identical to the one that the Syndicate had, since they were unable to gain access to a real one. This substance is something they called DHOC gell, short for dehydrated oncologic gel. The gel is not a naturally-occuring substance, it actually comes in a gaseous form. They change the chemical components to make it a liquid-like substance." "But why?" "DHOC gel is a prime substance used in the chips. It's probably the main ingredient in the cancer-blocking solution, and DHOC gas itself is strictly extra-terrestrial." Samantha let that hang in the air. The catiburr just sat their innocently in Shay's arms, staring at the speechless onlookers with its big brown eyes. "Samantha...are you *sure* you know what you're talking about?" Scully finally asked in a quiet, hesitant voice. "I'm positive! This stuff looks exactly the same as DHOC gel!" Scully took Samantha's hand to get a closer look at the substance. It certainly didn't *look* extra-terrestrial. "But still...it's only animal drool! It could be just something that *looks* like DHOC gel. How on earth could a compound used in those chips possibly end up in this little mammal's *saliva*?!" "That I don't know. But I do know that I've seen a lot of things that *look* like DHOC gel, but this is the only one that's ever felt or moved the same way as well." "So what you're saying......" Byers said slowly, "Is that this animal has the cure for cancer." Samantha nodded. "One of its major components, yes. To create an actual 'cure' as you say would require more materials." Shay held the catiburr at arm's distance as if it were going to jump out and bite him. "*This* thing is a *cure* for *cancer*?" He said in his shocked Australian accent. The catiburr looked at him. Brrrrruuuuu? "This doesn't make any sense!" Tina protested. "If this thing has the cure for cancer, *why* would anyone want to kill it? Wouldn't they want to breed it or preserve it or study it?" Mulder was staring thoughtfully at the catiburr. "Somehow, I think I know why...." The catiburr began to squirm, so Shay set it down on the ground in the middle of the group. Troi reached down to pet it. "This is incredible...first we stop a race of evil aliens from colonizing the planet, then we discover the cure for cancer!" Everyone else was still in shock, barely able to believe the possibility. Even Mulder seemed slightly awed at the idea. But impossible as it may have seemed, at the same time it made a lot of sense. Scully stared down at the catiburr. "So I guess the question is...what do we do with it now?" Before anyone could answer her, the catiburr suddenly looked up, ears pricked and whiskers erect in alert. The mild, curious look instantly vanished as it sniffed the air tenatively, sensing something that all the people surrounding it could not. It turned around once, still sniffing. Troi was slightly concerned. "What's it doing?" The catiburr leaped out between the legs of the encircling humans and RAN. But the *way* it ran was what left everybody in shock. Apparently, Scully's assumptions concerning its short little wegs and flat feet had been wrong...the catiburr looked more like a cati-*blur*. It ran at a speed equal to that of a speeding jackrabbit, if not faster. It was like watching a movie in fast-forward, seeing a turtle run 60 mph. "Hey! Come back!!" Troi shouted in anguish as the catiburr disappeared over the rise. She dropped her shoulders, upset and confused as to why her new pet had suddenly abandoned her. "Why did it run away so fast?" VARRRRRUUUUUMMMMM!!!! The sound of a rumbling engine soon answered her question. From seemingly out of nowhere a large, tarp-covered military jeep appeared, accelerating right past their camping spot and bouncing over the merciless terrain. The military jeep sped off in the direction the catiburr had disappeared. "That's them!" Mulder shouted over the dust. "That's the men who were after the catiburr, the men Frohike heard at the restaraunt!" He instinctively sprinted for their own jeep, and the others followed him as well. "Mom, Maggie, you stay here and watch the camp," Mulder ordered. The two elderly women obeyed. The remaining people inthe group clambered into the jeep as quickly as humanly possible, with Mulder once again taking the wheel. Troi especially was eager was ready for them to get going. "Come on, come on, they're going to kill it!" She cried. Mulder twisted the key in the ignition, and the engine struggled to come to life after remaining outside in the cold night air for so long. He glanced over to his right and saw Scully sitting next to him again. (Please, please, please don't let her get sick right now......) Mulder tried the engine again. This time it came to life, coughing and sputtering and spitting smoke out of the exhaust pipe. Mulder slammed his foot against the pedal, and they shot off across the outback. The jeep, which was obviously not as well built as the military jeep, jumped up and down like a hyper kangaroo over rocks and gulleys and tufts of yellowish grass. Everyone else was still struggling to put on their seatbelts as their speed quickly climbed to 60 mph. Mulder could barely see the military jeep ahead of them, shrouded into shadow by a cloud of smoke and red dust. He stole another nervous glance at Scully. She seemed to be alright, if not anxious that they catch up with the catiburr and the poachers. It would certainly be a first if she didn't get sick. Meanwhile, the military jeep was about ten yards ahead of Mulder's vehicle, and picking up speed. Despite the fact that the catiburr could run nearly as fast as a cheetah, (or so it seemed,) the faster car was still catching up easily to the desperate animal. As they began to get closer, one of the poachers riding shotgun in the jeep, leaned out of the window with a large hunting rifle in one hand. Lifting it to his eye level, he aimed at the fleeing catiburr, trying to keep his gun steady. "D***it, Wilson, keep this scrapjunk car steady!!" He hollered to the driver. "I *am* keeping it steady! Just shoot the rat!!!" The second poacher cursed under his breath and aimed again..... BRAM! The bullet ricocheted off a rock three feet from the target. The poacher swore and tried again. BRAM! BRAM! Closer this time. One whizzed over its head and into a shrub. The other knicked the dust beneath its feet. BRAM! "They're gonna kill it!!" Troi cried in anguish. "We have to go FASTER!" Troi started to reach for the wheel. Shay grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back quickly. "Hold on a minute! Let Mulder do the driving!" Mulder tried to concentrate on what lay ahead of them, but the dust from the military jeep in front of them kept obscuring his vision. And even worse, the dust was beginning to clog the engine. In response, he just increased their speed, therefore increasing the intensity of their bumps and jolts. Wilson, who was driving the military jeep up ahead of Mulder's jeep, suddenly noticed something ahead of them...right in their path was a large ditch, almost ten feet deep, sloping downwards and then up again like a giant rut in the ground. At the bottom of the ditch was a small stream that was little more than a trickle of water. But mostly the ditch was filled with dozens of large, sharp, reddish rocks. The catiburr simply leaped into the ditch and began to climb down the rocks. The military jeep didn't have it so easy. "Stop the d**m jeep, Wilson!" The poacher that was trying to shoot roared. "You're gonna crush us all!!" Wilson's boot hit the brakes, causing the tires to screech and the dust to swirl. The military jeep swerved and twisted and squealed in the churning dust...and finally screeched to a stop just inches from the edge of the ditch. Mulder, unable to see what was happening through the choking cloud of dust, didn't see the parked military jeep or the ten-foot-deep ditch until it was too late. "MULDER, HIT THE BRAKES!!!" SKKREEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!! K-WHRACK!!! The two vehicles met with a sickening crunch. Mulder closed his eyes just before they made impact, instinctively letting go of the wheel and throwing his arms around Scully, as if expecting to shield her from the incoming spray of glass. But then, the unexpected happened. Instead of smashing in on impact and stopping instantly, Mulder's jeep bumped the military jeep forward, like two giant marbles. The military jeep flew over the side of the ditch, hovering in the air for a few seconds like a UFO, and then dropped, its nose dipping towards the tiny excuse for a stream. The front of the jeep made contact with one large red boulder, crumpling the front hood like a piece of tin foil. The jeep sat there like that for what seemed like an eternity, stuck onto the rock, before it groaned painfully and rolled over onto its side, where it came to rest at the bottom of the ditch. Some glass tinkled. Mulder cut the engine, and the silence set in quickly. Except for the fact that the hood and front of the car were dented pretty badly, there was little damage to their vehicle. They could see smoke rising slowly out of the ditch. Mulder and Scully exchanged glances. Then they got out of the jeep quickly. Mulder walked over to the edge of the ditch, feeling queasy as he thought about what he might see below. The military jeep lay on its side, a column of smoke rising from its crumpled hood. Two windows and the front windshield were broken, and one of the tries was hanging on a bush several feet away. Mulder could also see a person lying facedown in the stream. His stomach clenched in apprehension...until the person began to move, trying to lift himself out of the dirty water. "Is the catiburr okay?!" Troi cried anxiously as she joined Mulder at the edge of the ditch. She was obivously less interested in the conditions of the people in the military jeep than Mulder was. "I don't know. I don't see it......." At that moment, the catiburr crawled out from behind two rocks, shaking dust off its coat, looking much better than the military jeep and its occupants. It clambered up the side of the ditch to where Troi and Shay were waiting. Scully came up alongside Mulder, and she surveyed the wreckage below. "Mulder, I would have to admit you are a pretty good driver.....most of the time." Mulder chose to ignore the comment. "We'd better get down there and see if any of them are seriously injured," He began to carefully slide down the slope sideways, and Scully, Samantha and the Lone Gunmen followed him. Troi and Shay decided to stay out of the way with the catiburr. Apparently, none of the four poachers in the military jeep had been killed. The man who had been firing at the catiburr was the one laying in the stream. He was hurt the most, with a few broken ribs, a broken arm, and several large cuts from flying glass. The driver, Wilson, lay stretched out over some rocks, with a disconnected wrist and a sprained ankle, not to mention an extensive collection of bruises. The other two poachers were still inside the jeep, with a number of bad injuries as well. The man in the stream was croaking out as many curses as he could muster while still trying to move himself. Mulder made it down to the bottom of the ditch and came up to Wilson. "Which one of you is the leader?" Wilson pointed weakly to the man in the stream. "Shorback." Mulder turned to Shorback, who was obivously incapable of posing any serious threat. Mulder motioned to Scully. "This woman here is a doctor. She can get your injuries set until you can be taken to a hospital. But *first* you have to tell us exactly what you are doing here and why you're trying to kill that animal." Shorback swore at Mulder. "I've got every bloody bone in my body broken, you moron! We don't have to confess crap unless you get us medical attention *now*!" "Again, no treatment till we get some answers. And no, you *don't* have every bloody bone in your body broken." Wilson was more willing to comply than Shorback. "It was orders from the general. Find the rat, kill it and bring its hide back to the U.S." "You'll have to be more specific than that. Which general? And why kill an animal like that? What purpose does it serve?" "And who the h**l do you think *you* are to go around telling us what to say and not say?" Protested Shorback. "You think you're that Agent Mulder or something?!" Mulder let out a long, low sigh. He came over to the stream to help Shorback out, and he noticed the words "U.S. Army" printed on his jacket. "You're in the military," He commented. "Yeah, that's right! We're military, not poachers!" "We'll see about that," Mulder grunted, moving Shorback so that he was lying down on the ground. "Now don't move." "Well, if they're U.S. military, and they're after the catiburr because of what we know about its saliva...then I'd say I sense something bigger at work here," Samantha said grimly. Mulder turned to face Shorback, his expression frightening. "Trying to cover up the cure for cancer? More secrets, more conspiracies, more lies?! I thought we were through with this!" Shorback's hostile manner vanished at the sight of Mulder's anger. If he didn't watch what he said, he might get a few more ribs broken. "We were trying to capture it, so that we could take a sample of the compound from its saliva to study!" "You were trying to capture it by blowing its head off??!" The poachers realized they were stuck in a rut. Literally. "Look, all we were doing was taking orders," One of the other poachers called from close to the military jeep. "It wasn't our idea. We don't know anything about any conspiracies!" Mulder was about to speak again, but then stopped. Even if there was another conspiracy, these men would know nothing about it, they were just pawns in the game. He motioned to Scully. "Alright, then...Scully, see if you can find something in their jeep, like a first-aid kit, that we can use to help them with their injuries. We don't have any room for them in our jeep...let's work on getting their's out of the ditchm and we can tow it back to the city." Samantha came up to him. "But what are we going to *do* about them? *We* obviously know what they were really after. But I doubt everyone else is going to come to the same conclusions that we did." "Even if we don't mention the DHOC gel, we can still get them arrested for poaching, especially if they're out-of-country. There's little else we can do beyond that." Samantha seemed a little dissatisfied with Mulder's decisions, but decided there was no point in arguing. She started down with Scully to help her with the wounded poachers. Mulder let out a heavy sigh, then trudged back up the side of the ditch to where Troi and Shay were waiting. Troi was holding the catiburr in her arms, which was drooling mockingly at him. (I guess there isn't anyplace on this earth I can go to escape from paranormal creatures and government conspiracies...even Australia.) 11:21 A.M. Tuesday, April 27th, 2000 Rockhampton, Australia "I can't believe Frohike was actually *right* for once....." "Hey!" Langley grinned cheekily at Frohike's hurt expression. The ocean wind rolled in over the sand, reminding them all of how their stay in Australia was soon to reach its end. 'The Believer' was all packed up and ready to go, and sat there patiently at the dock, waiting for them. "We won't have to worry about those poachers anymore," Maggie explained with obvious satisfaction. "They're in prison at this moment, and are bound to go on trial once they're shipped back to the U.S. I mentioned a few extra things to Charlie, since he knows a good bit about certain things, so I'm sure that his friends and him can dig more into who could be behind the poaching project." Troi sighed with regret. "I wish we could take the catiburr with us..." "It wouldn't be smart," Shay advised her. "Taking any animal out of its natural habitat is never a good idea. Don't worry, I'll take really good care of it. Maybe it'll make friends with that wombat of mine." Troi started at hearing Shay's voice. Samantha could tell from the look in Troi's eyes that it wasn't leaving the catiburr that Troi would be seriously regretting.....it was something else. Troi knew that they were going to be leaving soon. Normally when their departure time came around, she was in an excited mood, ready to move on down the trip and see what they could find next. But this time....that usual anticipating thrill was gone, having been replaced by a regretful, hollow feeling. The short two-and-a-half weeks they had spent in Australia had gone by far too quickly for her liking. She wondered if she would ever see Shay again. She stopped, and stared at Shay, drinking in what she saw, trying to memorize his features. That broad-shouldered, lean body, the slightly-ruffled blond-tan crop of hair, the brownish eyes speckled gold. It would not be easy for her to forget. It was then that she noticed that he was staring at her as well. "Why are you staring at me?" "The same reason you are, I guess." He smiled broadly, revealing his teeth. (Shoot! Why does he have to smile like that?!) She thought with slight frustration. It was infuriating when he did that...it somewhat reminded her of the way Mulder smiled at Scully sometimes. As she pondered over that smile, she got a gut feeling that she would indeed see Shay again. "I'll be seeing you," She said haltingly, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah," He replied, instantly feeling like an idiot with the obviousness of his reply. Troi didn't seem to notice. She swept up Shay into a hug, and he hugged her back. The hug lasted longer than either of them expected, and even after they pulled away from each other, it seemed to linger in the warm Australian air. Maggie motioned to Troi. "Come on, honey....there's a cruise boat out there waiting to take our parking place." Troi nodded dully. She gave Shay one last look of farewell before she slowly turned to follow her friends back to 'The Believer'. Shay stood there at the edge of the beach for a long time, watching them go all the way back to the dock. He whispered something beneath his breath and then let out a long, heavy sigh. Troi walked in a strange silence all the way across the white sand, not daring to turn around and look back at Shay lest she find it impossible to get back on 'The Believer'. Mulder noticed Troi's solemn behavior, and regarded her with a sigh. "It's hard for Troi to have to leave here..." He remarked to Scully. Scully observed Troi out of the corner of her eye. "Maybe she'll cheer up once we get to Japan." There it was again...that strange attitude of Scully's. Usually she was much more concerned for Troi, always comforting her whenever she was feeling low, and practically doing everything in her power to be the best mother the teen could ever ask for, even if she was still just a foster parent. ("Maybe she'll cheer up once we get to Japan"....) In fact, Mulder was more worried about Scully's condition rather than Troi's. He had expected her to at least feel better by the time they had left Australia, but that wasn't the case. If anything, her sickness was getting even worse. (And it's all because of me....) His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden feeling of Scully coming in close to him and puttin gher arm around his waist. "Hey, why the sad look?" She quiered. Mulder sighed. "No reason." Mulder also couldn't help but notice that Scully was drawing in *very* close to him, and was running her hand along his waistline. It gave him a weird feeling of both pleasure and discomfort. "What're you doing?" "What do you *think* I'm doing?" She answered mysteriously. (I hate it when she answers a question with another question...) He thought tiredly. (But at least *one* of us doesn't have feelings of guilt...) She walked with him like that all the way back across the beach, up the dock and over the gangplank until they felt the comforting, familiar feel of 'The Believer's deck floorboards beneath their feet. They raised the gangplank, hoisted the anchor and started up the propeller engines. Then the majestic houseboat slowly pulled away from the dock, churning up the gray-green seawater into a silver froth. The sun blazed brightly in the heavens, signaling their departure northwards to the waters and shores of Japan. ------------------------------------------------------------------- THE END OF PART NINE ------------------------------------------------------------------- Author's Notes: Allllllllllrighty, then!!! That's it, mates!!! Sorry, but the next part...*Japan*...will not be along for awhile because lovely Riva has made me take a month-long break from "Around the World", so I'm not going to start writing it until February. But when it *is* done, I'm sure you will all like it a LOT.....*BIG* things happening next part...probably one of the most important stories yet!!! :):) GIVE ME THE FEEDBACK AND NOBODY GETS HURT. :):):):) Please write and say what you thought of this one!!! Surprised by Mulder's reactions?? I put that in there on purpose! Got any ideas on what's going to happen next? ;) If you don't, you'll soon find out anyhow!!! See y'all! -Alien Girl