the MPs turned and went back to the door, the naval guard behind them. He had just passed the gurney where she huddled when abruptly he stopped. Scully held her breath, heart pounding; she could have grabbed him by the ankle if she wanted to.
Go, she thought, and closed her eyes. Go, leave, just go …
They left. The freezer's heavy doors slammed shut. Scully sighed, and waited until it was safe to follow.
CHAPTER 7
FORENSICS LABORATORY FBI FIELD OFFICE DALLAS, TEXAS
tftf't/ou're looking for what amounts to a I needle in a haystack." The field agent waved his hand to indicate the room around them, an open space the size of a basketball court. "I'm afraid the explosion was so devas-tating there hasn't been whole lot we've been able to put together just yet."
Mulder had to agree. There were stacks of debris, twisted girders, roped-off areas where forensics experts sat and painstakingly tried to piece together what had been an office, or a kitchen, or a doorway.
It looked like the most tedious job in the world. Mulder stopped and stared at a table covered with what resembled a thousand scattered silvery blobs of solder. He raised an eyebrow, then turned back to the field agent.
"I'm looking for anything out of the ordi-nary. Maybe something from the FEMA offices where the bodies were found."
The field agent nodded, passing Mulder and pointing to another table. "We weren't expecting to find those remains, of course. They went right off to Washington."
Mulder looked away, hoping his frustration and disappointment wouldn't show. "Was there anything in those offices that didn't go to D.C.?"
The field agent gestured at the table. The jumbled contents looked as if they'd been there for months.
There were dusty glass bottles filled with what looked like metal screws and nails. Strewn across the table were a number of brushes of varying shapes and sizes, as well as tweezers, microscopes, and a very large magnifying glass.
"Some bone fragments came up in the sift this morning." The field agent picked up one of the bottles and gazed at its contents. "We thought there'd been another fatality, but then we found out that FEMA had recovered them from an archaeological site out of town."
"Have you examined them?"
"No." The field agent shrugged and replaced the bottle. "Just fossils, as far as we know."
Mulder nodded, when a figure standing in the doorway caught his eye. He lifted his chin very slightly and said, "I'd like this person to take a look, if you don't mind."
At the entrance to the workroom, Scully stood with arms crossed and stared at Mulder. Before he could call out to her, she walked across the room to join them. The field agent acknowledged her with a nod of greeting.
"Let me just see if I can lay my hands on what you're looking for," he said, and headed off into the maze of detritus behind them.
Mulder leaned against the table and gave Scully the once-over, twice. "You said you weren't coming."
"I wasn't planning on it," she said coolly. "Particularly after spending a half hour in cold storage this morning. But I got a better look at the blood and tissue samples I took from the fireman."
Mulder straightened. "What did you find?"
Scully lowered her voice. "Something I couldn't show to anyone else. Not without more information.
And not without causing the kind of attention I'd just as soon avoid right now."
She took a deep breath, and said, "The virus those men were infected with contains a protein code I've never seen before. What it did to them, it did extremely fast. And unlike the AIDS virus or any other aggressive strain, it survives very nicely outside the body."
Mulder's voice was a near whisper. "How was it contracted?"
"That I don't know. But if it's through sim-ple contact or blood to blood, and if it doesn't respond to conventional treatments, it could be a serious health threat."
Mulder started to reply excitedly, but at that moment the field agent reappeared. In his hands he carried a wooden
Go, she thought, and closed her eyes. Go, leave, just go …
They left. The freezer's heavy doors slammed shut. Scully sighed, and waited until it was safe to follow.
CHAPTER 7
FORENSICS LABORATORY FBI FIELD OFFICE DALLAS, TEXAS
tftf't/ou're looking for what amounts to a I needle in a haystack." The field agent waved his hand to indicate the room around them, an open space the size of a basketball court. "I'm afraid the explosion was so devas-tating there hasn't been whole lot we've been able to put together just yet."
Mulder had to agree. There were stacks of debris, twisted girders, roped-off areas where forensics experts sat and painstakingly tried to piece together what had been an office, or a kitchen, or a doorway.
It looked like the most tedious job in the world. Mulder stopped and stared at a table covered with what resembled a thousand scattered silvery blobs of solder. He raised an eyebrow, then turned back to the field agent.
"I'm looking for anything out of the ordi-nary. Maybe something from the FEMA offices where the bodies were found."
The field agent nodded, passing Mulder and pointing to another table. "We weren't expecting to find those remains, of course. They went right off to Washington."
Mulder looked away, hoping his frustration and disappointment wouldn't show. "Was there anything in those offices that didn't go to D.C.?"
The field agent gestured at the table. The jumbled contents looked as if they'd been there for months.
There were dusty glass bottles filled with what looked like metal screws and nails. Strewn across the table were a number of brushes of varying shapes and sizes, as well as tweezers, microscopes, and a very large magnifying glass.
"Some bone fragments came up in the sift this morning." The field agent picked up one of the bottles and gazed at its contents. "We thought there'd been another fatality, but then we found out that FEMA had recovered them from an archaeological site out of town."
"Have you examined them?"
"No." The field agent shrugged and replaced the bottle. "Just fossils, as far as we know."
Mulder nodded, when a figure standing in the doorway caught his eye. He lifted his chin very slightly and said, "I'd like this person to take a look, if you don't mind."
At the entrance to the workroom, Scully stood with arms crossed and stared at Mulder. Before he could call out to her, she walked across the room to join them. The field agent acknowledged her with a nod of greeting.
"Let me just see if I can lay my hands on what you're looking for," he said, and headed off into the maze of detritus behind them.
Mulder leaned against the table and gave Scully the once-over, twice. "You said you weren't coming."
"I wasn't planning on it," she said coolly. "Particularly after spending a half hour in cold storage this morning. But I got a better look at the blood and tissue samples I took from the fireman."
Mulder straightened. "What did you find?"
Scully lowered her voice. "Something I couldn't show to anyone else. Not without more information.
And not without causing the kind of attention I'd just as soon avoid right now."
She took a deep breath, and said, "The virus those men were infected with contains a protein code I've never seen before. What it did to them, it did extremely fast. And unlike the AIDS virus or any other aggressive strain, it survives very nicely outside the body."
Mulder's voice was a near whisper. "How was it contracted?"
"That I don't know. But if it's through sim-ple contact or blood to blood, and if it doesn't respond to conventional treatments, it could be a serious health threat."
Mulder started to reply excitedly, but at that moment the field agent reappeared. In his hands he carried a wooden
Similar Books
