USS Vincent - Atlantic Ocean 

Alarms sounded, sending the crew of the Vincent into action. Pilots raced to their planes assisted by flight crews as one-by-one they left the carrier behind. The supposed training mission had taken a turn towards reality. Fortunately, Bill Scully had an expert crew at his disposal. Had he realized what they were coming up against, he would have had second thoughts. 

Even at a distance, he could see his planes were dropping like flies. They no sooner encountered enemy aircraft, when they exploded in air, the remains falling into the ocean below. What was happening? These were his top pilots? Who the hell were they fighting? 

"Sir!" one of his crewmen called out but almost at the same time, the world exploded around them, metal and glass splintering the air. 

Several more explosions rocked the carrier, listing it to one side before it settled back in place. Bill rose to his feet, searching through the choking smoke for the man that had called out to him. Bits and pieces of flesh were all he found. 

Making his way up on deck, Bill watched his men putting out fires, aiding the injured and exhibiting great bravery in a battle against an incredibly powerful enemy. He glanced the length of the carrier where aircraft had been destroyed and the flight deck pitted with holes larger than the aircraft themselves. 

When the alarms stopped, he found it easier to concentrate. Was the battle over? For now, yes, but it seemed to be over before it had ever really started. Unsure of how much time had passed due to the concussion he'd sustained before the second assault completely paralyzed his ship, Bill looked up from where he was lying to see a familiar face helping him to his feet. 

"Sir?" Captain McGuinness supported the larger man. "Are you alright?" 

"I don't know..." he tried to make sense of his fragmented thoughts. 

"We got your SOS and came as quickly as possible. Who did this?" McGuinness questioned. 'Do you have any idea?" 

Bill shook his head. He searched for an answer, but it was obvious he was suffering some disruption of memory from his head wound. 

"Captain!" Lieutenant Delony called out to McGuinness from a short distance away, motioning the Captain in his direction. 

McGuinness aided Admiral Scully as they made their way to where the chopper pilot stood beside an unrecognizable tangle of metal. 

"What is it?" McGuinness questioned. 

"I'm not really sure, Captain, but I think you should see this for yourself." 

Delony took hold of Bill's arm to steady him as McGuinness let go so he could move forward towards the black object lying on the deck within a tangle of metal. Removing a piece of the carrier off the object, he gasped and quickly stepped back, shocked at what he saw. 

"What is it?" Bill Scully questioned and insisted on seeing for himself. 

He dropped to his knees to get a better look but once there, shock registered as he looked down at the alien remains. 

"Damn it," he backed up as quickly as possible. "Dana was right," he admitted. "She and Mulder were right all along." 

Ventilation Shaft 

Time. It was running out, and he knew it. He grew weaker with each passing moment, unsure of whether or not he would make it, of whether he would live or die. Weaving in and out and through the darkened passage, he kept the goal before him. 

When home came into view, he felt relief. It had been so long since he'd been home, having become turned around and separated from family. But there it was before his very eyes, and not a moment too soon. In and out, up and down; he worked his way towards home as best as he could, aware that his strength was beginning to fail him. How he made it this far, he didn't know, didn't even give it any thought. All he knew was he had to get home. 

He crash landed, skidding to a halt, knocking over many in his wake. He sought refuge deep within the walls of home, looking for her and finding her at last. He fell before her; no, he bowed before her - bowed before his queen. 

In a last ditch effort, he danced a dance that told of the blood. It was the same blood that he brought back with him - brought back to his queen to share the news of the life found in the blood. 

Had it been a perfect world, she would have thanked him, would have praised him for the glorious deed he'd undertaken and for giving his life for the lives of the others, but she didn't. She simply took the blood he brought with him and gave no thought to his eyes as the light faded from them. 

She took the blood. She ingested it, immediately feeling the power it possessed as it became a part of her. In no time at all, she shared it with the hive. 

*** 

Will ran. Ducking under the man's arm, he fled, not because he was afraid, although he would later admit to feeling a certain amount of fear, but he ran mainly because time was precious. He knew this man was fully aware that the twelve had entered the facility, and he knew they were there to find him. He had to find them first. 

Up ahead, he passed through a set of double doors, descending several levels before emerging from the stairwell. He cut down a short hallway to his right, stopped at another intersecting corridor and looking frantically about, decided to go left. Stopping, he took the time to glance quickly behind him, but no one had followed. 

He spied an area that was under construction not far from where he was. Lighting in this area was subdued, making it harder to see and harder to be seen. A darkened doorway some twenty feet away, beckoned him. Will ran towards it. One step through the doorway, he realized his mistake, but it was too late. He felt the weightlessness of his body falling helplessly into the dark shaft. 

When he hit bottom, he had no time to think of what he'd fallen into - no time to recall his brief glance at the two buttons on the wall beside the door, both marked with an arrow pointing in opposite directions. He hadn't realized until it was too late that the doorway wasn't a doorway at all, but an opening to an elevator shaft. 

The force from the fall met up with him and slammed him into unconsciousness. His thoughts came to rest where no one could hear them. 

Spaceship 

The door of the spaceship slid to one side enabling Skinner's team to enter. 

"Damn, I hate this place," Grant shivered almost immediately. "Wish I was a tech head. I'd rather take my chances with Frohike and the others than be back in this igloo again." 

"Don't tell me you believe in all this alien crap," Doggett failed to realize the truth. 

The three men looked at him in unison, a move that almost looked practiced because of their synchronization. 

"What's it take for you, John?" Skinner questioned. "What's it take before you open your eyes and believe? How can you explain it all away? The seals... the boy... all that's happened?" 

"Sorry. I just haven't seen anything that can't be explained by advanced military technology. For crying out loud, take the stealth. There're still people out there who think the bomber's a damn UFO." 

"What about the super-soldiers?" Grant asked. 

"What about me?" Sam added, shifting his features briefly to resemble each man. 

"It's nothing more than a dermal issue. Don't you remember," he snapped his fingers in Skinner's direction. "Remember when Mulder and Scully came upon that guy and his father who could change their appearance to look like anyone they chose. I read all about it in an X-File. Scully did the autopsy. Said it was some special layer of skin that allowed them to change their physical features. Maybe it's the same in your case," he pointed at Sam. "Maybe it's a lot more common than we know, but folks don't let on because they don't want to be labeled as freaks. How the hell should I know?" 

"You're in for one hell of a surprise, Doggett," Grant patted his shoulder and moved around him, stopping in front of Sam. "Lead the way old-timer. The sooner we get this show on the road, the sooner we get out of here." 

Sam nodded in agreement and started down the metal walkway. Skinner held back and stopped Doggett short. 

"You're with us on this, aren't you?" 

"Yeah. I said I'd go along with it. But I'm with Scully's brother and want proof before I go jumping on the alien bandwagon," he said, leaving Skinner in silence as he followed behind Sam and Grant. 

Not having gone very far, Sam stopped the group when they came upon the first row of incubation pods where approximately twenty hung within their line of site. 

"You want proof," he moved towards one pod, "Here's your proof." 

With his forearm, he wiped the thick layer of frost from the pod, stepped back and motioned for Doggett to look inside. Before he did, Doggett shouldered his weapon and looked from man to man. Ending with a shake of his head, he looked into the pod. 

"What the hell!" he shouted and took a step back. 

In one swift motion, he brought the M-16 off his shoulder and fired at the top of the pod, shattering the icy chamber. A thick slush spurted forth with such force, the front of the pod gave way from the weight and crashed down onto the walkway, spewing the lifeless human before them, it's skin melting off the jelled bones as the immediate rise in temperature hugged the exposed body. A piercing alarm sounded throughout the level. Red lights blinked off and on, reflecting off the pods. Steam and smoke from the damaged conduits above the pods quickly filled the area. 

Skinner grabbed for the weapon, uncertain of what set Doggett off. Likewise, Grant stepped up to help. 

"Luke! Luke!" Doggett screamed, kneeling down at the body and turning it over to face it upright. 

"It's not Luke!" Skinner tossed the M16 to Grant and knelt down to pull Doggett away. 

Realizing it for the first time, Doggett looked at what had once been a man's body, watching in horror at the thrashing creature coming awake inside of it. 

"I swear..." he looked up at Skinner. "I swear it was Luke," his eyes displaying their betrayal. 

"Party's over," Sam broke in. "We better get the hell out of here... now!" he pointed at the surrounding pods that were rapidly melting from the disruption in the temperature controls. 

"Right behind you," Grant agreed. "We don't want to be anywhere around these things when they wake up," and with that, he took aim at the alien inside the man and shot it a number of times. "One down," he looked around. "Six hundred thousand to go." 

Again, Grant took aim at the melting pods. 

"Are you crazy!" Skinner slapped at the gun muzzle, and rose in front of Grant. 

"Damn it, I've seen what these aliens can do! We've got to kill them!" 

"You go shooting up the place, and we'll be swarmed by super-soldiers. Is that what you want?" Skinner challenged. 

"We must go. Now! Unless you want to be someone's lunch!" Sam started off, followed by Grant. 

Skinner pulled Doggett to his feet, and grabbed his shirt sleeve to pull him along. 

"I swear, Skinner. It was Luke." 

"I believe you." 

"Why? Why would you believe me? I wouldn't. I've doubted all of you for years." 

"Yeah? Well, payback's a bitch. Come on," Skinner indicated, and the two ran off to catch up with the others. 

Unit Storage Area 

Even with the light, Mulder couldn't find Scully. One moment she was calling from one direction and the next, from a totally different direction. It didn't make sense. 

Again, he felt the past creeping up on him, the dread of that same separation he experienced in Texas. How easy it had been to get turned around in the dark with nothing but row upon row of corn stalks and the bright lights from the search helicopters above. It was a maze just like these endless rows of super-soldiers. 

"Scully!" he called again, believing that sooner or later, he was bound to find her. "Damn it, Scully. Where are you?" he mumbled, eyes frantically searching the rows, anxiety rising up within. 

"Mulder!" 

He whirled around to see her at arm's length although she hadn't been there a minute ago. Relief washed over him. 

"Where were you?" he asked not waiting for her to answer. "Have you seen Gibson or BJ?" 

"Back there," she pointed over her shoulder, turning in the same direction. 

Mulder touched her arm lightly, but something didn't register, didn't feel like it should. After she cold-cocked him with his own weapon, he understood the red flags. Rubbing his cheek, he scurried to his feet at her approach, fully intending to run in the opposite direction but as he turned, a hand to his chest stopped him in stride. 

"What seems to be the problem, Mulder?" a second Scully asked, her eyes empty and as cold as the first. 

"The problem is I'm about to get my ass kicked... by a woman." 

"Sounds like a personal problem," the first Scully closed in on him. 

"You could call it that," he cut to his right, breaking through the row of super-soldiers, a move that for some reason was reminiscent to the game of red rover he and Samantha had played with the neighborhood kids. 

"Going somewhere?" another Scully asked and grabbed him by the shirt collar. 

Mulder looked towards the woman coming to realize that the entire row resembled Scully. In fact, everywhere he looked, he saw only Scully. 

"I asked, are you going somewhere?" she tightened her grip on his collar. 

"I was thinking about Tahiti. I hear it's nice this time of year but what the hell... I'd settle for Vancouver in winter." 

In most situations involving women, Mulder could easily charm his way out. But he didn't have much confidence in himself in this particular instance. There was no charming a super-soldier and as they closed in around him, he sensed that whoever was behind this was getting a real kick out of watching him squirm.