Chapter 18: We don’t know what we don’t know.
Skinner calls Scully in the mid-afternoon. They will meet in a few hours at Mulder's, but he is afraid she will hear the news before then. He doesn’t want her to worry. On the other hand he needs to tell her the whole truth and maybe that will make her worry more.
Scully spent the morning on the science. Mulder is fine based on everything she can determine. He is not going to mutate, turn into a super soldier, or some other hideous creature. The science on the stem cell mutation, which Mulder told her she helped on, seems to be fine. His son is in fact his son and he does not have alien DNA. She has also managed to get the medical records from a hospital in San Diego where Moondance Fox gave birth to a William Fox, father unknown. She read the EMT and the FBI’s reports on how Mulder was found and his condition. She does not know how but the box he was in had saved him. So far all she has done is reassured herself, but found no answers as to how the box saved him based on the plans she has found, who told Moondance about Mulder’s locations, or what the connections are between the scientists who made the box, the terrorist cell or how the terrorist cell ended up with the transcript of Mulder’s statement.
Skinner meantime is convinced that this terrorist group is not sophisticated enough to have orchestrated the hack into NASA’s solar monitors or the power grid. They have taken responsibility for something they didn’t do, although they know enough to have sent all the agencies down several rabbit holes today. Skinner had interviewed the surviving terrorists from DC himself. This was the only site where any scientific evidence was recovered. One of the men said they were visited from someone early the previous day from the LA group. He left the scientific boxes of information. Skinner showed him the pictures of the men they had captured in the LA raid. It was none of them. He showed him the picture of the men who escaped the raid in LA. It was him.
Skinner knows where to find this man but for now is keeping that information out of his official reports.
Scully can tell by Skinner’s voice just how tired he is and, also,that he has bad news.
“Scully, Mulder wasn’t on the plane- the cargo plane- he didn’t get on it.” “No, sir, he didn’t trust it, but he said he would find his own way home. He will meet us.” “Scully, the military plane crashed about an hour ago. Engine trouble.” Scully is silent. Mulder was supposed to be on that plane.
Someone does want him dead. She gives Skinner the results of her investigation that morning. Skinner tells her about the progress of the investigation and of the man who had escaped from the raid in LA. “Sir, we need to find him. Any leads?” Skinner explains to Scully about the surveillance on Mulder’s wife and son as well as the background investigation he has been conducting on them. “Everything seems to be as Moondance claims until a couple of years ago when William started to go to a UFO group.” “He is his father’s son.” “Yes, but he disassociated with that group, but his emails and phone records over the last few months indicate considerable contacts with various scientists- the type of people who would have the knowledge to accomplish these hacks and build the box-one belongs to this terrorist cell in LA, the one who escaped, that’s the only known connection between scientists and the terrorist group. He was spotted this morning with Mulder and his son.” “Sir, you don’t think Mulder was involved?” “In a conspiracy to wipe out everyone’s memory, in a branched DNA attack –of course, not, but somehow this new family is involved and Mulder might just be the target.”
“Do you know where this terrorist is now?” “Soon as they dropped Mulder off at the airport, they headed to Moondance’s house. The three of them have been at her house since.”
Scully asked why he didn’t just go in and arrest the three of them. They had the cause. “Dana, you want me to arrest Mulder’s wife and son? I had to convince the FBI to let him come back to reopen the X files. This would jeopardize his security clearance. I have them all under surveillance and we will talk to Mulder tonight.”
Scully hopes Mulder gets to the house earlier than Skinner. She prepares to go to the house now. It is best if he hears about his family from her.