Disclaimers: See part 1. A M B I G U I T Y (2/8) byMissy missy@lexicon.net Mulder looked about the room for something suitable with which to remove the nails and release the false side. He located a screwdriver and took of one of his shoes. "So, we'll make a handyman out of you yet" quipped Scully. "Don't laugh, you haven't seen whether it works yet" Mulder responded, his face only mildly reflecting his humour. He positioned the screwdriver between the two pieces of wood and gently hammered it down to obtain some leverage. As he worked back and forth slowly gaining some momentum in the removal of the piece. As he applied pressure, the nails groaned as they released their precious prize. A small diskette slipped onto the desk. Mulder and Scully exchanged a look both acknowledging that it would be better for them to peruse the contents of the disk on their own computer. Mulder slipped the disk into his jacket pocket, replaced the contents of the drawer and had slid it back into place just as a young man in his twenties entered the basement. "Hey, what are you doing in here?" he asked emphatically, his light brown shoulder length straight hair falling about his face. "We're with the FBI" said Mulder pulling his ID out for him to see. "I'm Agent Mulder and this is Agent Scully. We are investigating the disappearance of Dr. Charles Subanzki and may I ask - *who* are you?" The young man entered the basement coming over to the desk checking out his Mulder's ID "I'm Chad Hollingworth. What do you mean, he's disappeared?" "Last night he went out for a walk and didn't return." replied Scully. Mulder looked at Chad "What is your interest in the BETA project, Chad? Chad looked up at Mulder, his 5'10" height a disadvantage against Mulder's height. "About six months ago he asked me to assist him and Kevin in the BETA project. This was the transmission phase. He had really started the project just after the shutdown of the SETI project at Aricebo putting all the equipment together and gaining funding." "We actually came here to interview Kevin Sagan. Do you know where he is?" Scully asked. "Well, if he's not here, he should be in his room. I'm surprised he's not here. He practically sleeps with this equipment. I can take you to his room if you like" Mulder nodded to him and the trio proceeded out the door. "How's your hand, Scully?" "It's okay, Mulder." she brushed him off. Scully was not one to be fussed over and ever since her disappearance for three months, Mulder's concern was obvious. Mulder knew better than to push the issue of her hand now but made a mental note to have it looked at later knowing that doctors were the worst patients and tended to overlook their own injuries having seen plenty worse. The early morning sun created shadows across the asphalt surface leading towards the dormitories. Chad led them to the Kevin's room knocking on the door. *Again* there was no answer. "Kevin, are you in there?" called out Chad. Mulder turned the door knob opening the door. The room had the stock standard bed, desk, drawers and wardrobe. The desk was piled thick with papers set between the small radio transmitter/receiver and computer. Scully and Mulder entered the room both flicking through documents on Kevin's desk. "Chad - when was the last time you saw Kevin?" Mulder asked quietly. "Yesterday at the basement. I left at about six o'clock. Both Dr. Subanzki and Kevin were still there working on the receiver." "Thanks for your assistance Chad, if you hear from either Kevin or Dr. Subanzki please contact either of us immediately. These are our cellular numbers." Mulder handed over their cards to Chad who looked them over before placing them in his pocket. "Kevin's not in any trouble is he?" "Not as far as we are aware." Scully replied softly and with that Chad turned on his heel, shutting the door and left the two Agents to do a more thorough search of Kevin's room. Scully sat down at the computer turning it on and wished she had her glasses to read the screen more clearly. Mulder opened the wardrobe and drawers flicking neatly through the clothing. "It doesn't look like he decided to take a holiday." Mulder said picking up a couple of bottles of tablets contained in the top drawer of the bedside table. "Aren't these for the treatment of epilepsy, Scully?" Scully turned away from the computer screen in the chair, crossing her legs neatly and looked at the name of the bottle and nodded. "Yes, although this is a mild dosage but he would be mad not to take these if he went away. Mulder... what are you thinking." Scully could see that far away look in his hazel eyes knowing that a theory was formulating in his mind. "Maybe Dr. Subanzki is not the only person to have disappeared. It is unusual that the only other person who knows all about the BETA project has disappeared. I wonder......" "So...I hope you are not inferring that there is an alien abduction here. We are here to investigate the disappearance of Dr. Subanzki not Kevin!" Scully's voice was firm and then softened as she continued. "No one has reported him missing, so we cannot just assume that he has disappeared in the same manner." Scully looked up at Mulder flustered. She knew that Mulder's intuition and leaps of logic should not be ignored because comparatively, they were more often than not, correct. But she also had to keep Mulder grounded. "I don't know Scully but I have a feeling that this time it may not be 'Little Green Men' Mulder looked around the room with a feeling of trepidation that this case definitely was more complicated than it seemed. "I think it may be prudent for us to speak to the Dean." "You're probably right." she said turning back to the computer screen. "He has got a password protect on his system and unlike *yours*, I don't have a clue what it might be." Mulder looked over her shoulder and thought for a moment. "Try 'BETA' or 'SETI'." Scully came up with the same result each time "ACCESS DENIED". "Mulder, this is useless. We do not even know the guy, so how can we possibly get into his mind to work out what his password would be? A crack password breaking programme can take months if it is a highly sophisticated password such as a phrase" Mulder paced back and forth across the room his brow furrowed "Give me a moment Scully. From what we know about him, it would seem that his life revolved pretty much around university and the project." Mulder clicked his fingers. "I know. Try 'Voyager'" Scully keyed in the new password and gained access. "Brilliant Mulder, but don't think that this will let me trust you with *my* computer." The list of files appeared innocuous enough. Mulder was quickly scanning down the list trying to ascertain contents from the short titles which invariably only make sense to the creator. Scully was also scanning the screen, not for the contents but for the most recent files used. Upon locating the file, she accessed it. "This is the last file he used. It was 10.16 p.m. last night." "Mulder....I don't understand. This file in encrypted! To first have an access code and then encryption. Why would a university student need to use such methods?" Scully was perplexed. Mulder rummaged through the desk drawer locating a disk. "Scully, save the file and let's get out of here. I do not like the vibes I am getting of this." Scully transferred the data to the floppy disk, quickly shutting down the computer system and placing the disk in her coat pocket but failing to turn off the computer screen. Before securely closing the door after them, Mulder glanced around the room once more and there was a glint of sunlight reflecting on an object poking out of under the bed. Mulder bent down to look at the item. "Scully have you got an evidence bag or a prophylactic?" Scully came across the room and handed him a prophylactic and an evidence bag. Mulder retrieved the syringe, the needle of which had sparkled in the morning light securely placing it in the plastic bag. Mulder stood and guided Scully down and out to the corridor this time locking the door after them. As they walked down the corridor, Mulder had the feeling of being watched. He glanced around but failed to pick up any evidence to support his instincts. -    - A black clad man of medium build and height watched the two agents leave the room of Kevin Sagan. He was fully aware of their identities and it amazed him how fast they had managed to investigate the disappearance of Dr. Subanzki. He swiftly moved to the door that the agents had just closed and efficiently picked the lock slipping through noiselessly. His small deep brown eyes assessed the room quickly and logically went to the bed crawling on his knees looking but the object of his search was not there. His intelligent mind immediately put the presence of the two Federal Agents in the room and the disappearance of the syringe together and came up with two. Not wanting to stay in the room any longer than necessary, he again scanned the room noticing for the first time that the computer screen was on which *he knew* had not been the case earlier. Using his cellular phone, he called his superiors advising him of the situation and suggesting how this could be handled. BLUE LAKE MOTEL ITHACA, NEW YORK Scully waited in the car whilst Mulder got the keys to their rooms. They had again obtained adjoining rooms allowing easy access to discuss the case at hand. This had become a common practice since the early days when Scully was assigned to partner Mulder in his investigations into the X files. Mulder parked the car and they both retrieved their overnight bags from the trunk. Scully also picked up her laptop computer which was a constant companion on their journeys. They went to their respective rooms to place their belongings. Mulder knocked on Scully's door carrying a couple of cups of hot coffee and a brown paper bag. She opened the door allowing him to enter and she gratefully took the coffee savouring the first mouthful refreshing her mind. Scully, having already connected the laptop into the telephone jack, had connected to FBI headquarters. "I've contacted Danny. I was just starting to download the encrypted document down to him. Let me finish" She sat down and completed the transmission through to Danny. Out of habit, she removed the disk from the drive and having nowhere else to store it safely, slipped it into her jacket pocket once again and then relaxed to enjoy the rest of her coffee. "Enjoy while its hot" Mulder said flourishing a brown paper bag. He placed a fresh croissant on a plate in front of her, its crisp crust covering a thin layer of melted butter. as he removed a second one for himself. They ate in companionable silence enjoying the flaky French pastry. Scully thought about the clogging of her arteries, then dismissed it as she relished the sweet light bread. Mulder finished his croissant watching Scully as she delicately handled the pastry waiting for her to finish before finally catching her left hand removing the handkerchief covering it. It revealled three deep cuts horizontally across the back of her hand. "Scully, these need to be seen to." Mulder exclaimed astounded at the depth of the cuts. "How did you do so much damage?" "The diary I found in the drawer was caught on something and as I pulled, it was released." Scully replied matter-of-factly but yet her voice held a faintness not usually attributed to it. She made to get the diary from her pocket but Mulder halted her. "No you don't, you are not going to divert my attention Scully. You are talking to a well practised artist here" Mulder stood pulling his keys out of his pocket. "Come on." He helped her up and bundled her back into her overcoat proceeding to the car after locking the door to her room. LOCAL DOCTOR'S OFFICE 10.32 A.M. Scully sat on the examining table looking down at her feet dangling in mid air above the wooden steps which had allowed her easy access to the table, her hands resting in her lap. Mulder stood against the far wall surveying the small cluttered office housing a well-laden desk, filing cabinets, medicine cabinets, overburdened bookshelves and walls adorned with children's fingerpaintings. A small dark man in his mid sixties with an atypical Jewish nose to match the Kippa affixed to the back of his head scurried into the room, his reading glasses slipping down his nose whilst quickly reviewing the patient details Mulder had filled out upon entering the clinic door. "Hi, I'm Dr. Goldberg. What can I do for you?" he queried as he came across the room to where Scully was seated. "Just clean up a couple of scratches on my hand" Scully replied calmly undoing the handkerchief revealing the cuts. Scully was annoyed with Mulder for dragging her here. She would have treated the cuts herself. She avoided hospitals at all costs in the same way Mulder did. Dr. Goldberg picket up her hand gently, peering through his half-moon glasses to take a closer look. "Scratches is a bit of an understatement my dear. What caused this damage?" he looked up at her over the top of his half moon glasses into the radiant blue eyes. "She caught it on some rusted nails in the side of a drawer" Mulder replied. Dr. Goldberg started at the sound of the male voice behind him not having noticed Mulder when he had entered the room. "Just be warned doctor, she is a doctor herself and will try to mediate the mode of treatment you would suggest." "Mulder, I am not *you*" Scully said adamantly. "I am not silly enough to ignore cuts caused by rusted nails. Anybody with the least amount of common sense knows that!" Dr. Goldberg eyed the two agents evenly realising that there was a non- verbal conversation taking place between them as well as the verbal one. "You two can continue your discussion later but right now I would like to treat this young lady." He moved to the medical cabinet removing various bottles and swabs placing latex gloves on his hands before moving back towards Scully. His ministrations carefully cleaned the cuts, his round face puckering as he prodded the wounds. "Well my dear, two of these are okay but this one will require some stitches. I will also give you a tetanus injection." Mulder looked at Scully, the expression on her face declaring her opposition to the stitches. "Scully...." he tapered off in a warning tone. She looked at him realising that she was being childish and resigned herself to the treatment ahead. Two injections and seven perfect little stitches later, they left the surgery with a stern warning from Dr. Goldberg to give her hand a chance to heal. In the car Scully looked down at her neatly bandaged hand still suffering the effects of the local anaesthetic, sighed and closed her eyes as Mulder drove towards their motel. BLUE LAKE MOTEL ITHACA, NEW YORK 10,26 A.M. Two dark shapes slid with careful movements towards the assigned motel doors each opening the lock immediately without the aid of the usual door key and slipped inside. Not caring to cover the fact that they had entered the respective rooms, they systematically went through them discarding any irrelevant items with disregard seizing only those items which they had been instructed to retrieve and searching emphatically for the ones which they could not locate. After several intensive searches of bed linen, mattresses, suitcases and any other source of the missing items of their assigned mission, they vacated the rooms, and with a quirk of humour, bothered to lock the doors again. BLUE LAKE MOTEL ITHACA, NEW YORK 11.16 A.M. Mulder parked the car outside their rooms and gave Scully a gentle shake. She opened her eyes slowly taking in their surroundings and released her seatbelt. "Mulder, we need to contact the Dean to ascertain where Kevin is." Mulder nodded and Scully followed him to the her door waiting whilst he opened the door and ushered her inside. They both stopped as they absorbed the destruction which had taken place in their absence. Bed linen had been removed, drawers pulled out and the contents of Scully's bags and briefcase were strewn across the bed. They both pulled out their guns and carefully checked out all the points of access in the room and the adjoining bathroom finding no intruders. Mulder's mind was racing. "Wait here, Scully" he commanded as he ran out of the room towards his own. He slid his key into the lock silently and entered cautiously taking all the precautions instilled into him at the FBI Academy. He found no one in his room although it had suffered the same fate as Scully's. He returned to her room. "I think these people need some training in redecoration. I might appreciate the homely state they left my room in but I doubt someone with your clean tastes appreciates their skills." Mulder quipped. A faint smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. "So whose attention have we attracted in our" Scully consulted her watch "five hour stint in this state. Whoever it was has been through my file and removed the notes I took from Dr. Subanzki's calendar of appointments. "What's going on Mulder?" Scully was getting agitated by the situation they were in. It reminded her of a couple of previous instances when their investigations were thwarted by the disappearance of evidence and documentation supporting their cases. At least in those cases, they had time to accumulate material whereas in this investigation - they had only just begun. "I don't know Scully but it seems to be linked with our investigation as innocuous as it may seem. The more I think about it, the more I am sure it is linked to the BETA project Dr. Subanzki was operating. I have a feeling that this may not be the last time our rooms are trashed." "Mulder, what are you talking about?" "The computer disks Scully! When I took you to the clinic, we both still had the disks in our coat pockets. We left everything else in our rooms." Mulder now had that look of thoughtful anticipation running over his face as he fingered the disk he had removed from his pocket. Scully looked around the room, torn between wanting to clean up and an anxiety to know what was on the disks. Curiosity got the better of her and she moved to her computer turning it on. While waiting for it to boot up, she went about picking up just a few of her clothes and placed them bag in her overnight bag before retrieving her glasses and sitting them high up on the bridge of her nose. Keying in her password, she gained access to the system loading in the floppy disk which Mulder had passed to her. "It looks like Dr. Subanzki was a bit more trusting than our young graduate student. His files don't require password access." Again, she ascertained the last file to be used and recalled it to the screen. They both watched with trepidation as to what would come up on the screen before them. As the screen filled with details, they scanned the file absorbing it and trying to understand the context of the document between the complex astronomy and physics terminology. Scully's background assisted in these areas assisted them to a certain degree but this was even out of her league. "Scully, this relates to a continuation of the SETI project. It wasn't discontinued as we thought." Mulder was fascinated by the words coming up on the screen, his eyes flickering over the lines scrolling up the screen. "Why would the Government publicly announce the demise of the project then continue the transmissions from an observatory in Australia?" Scully was perplexed as she skimmed through the screen. "Mulder, this name. I'm sure he had an appointment with Dr. Subanzki yesterday." "Are you sure?" Mulder looked at her quizzically. "As sure as I can be without an eidetic memory like yours" Suddenly she remembered the small diary she had extracted from the basement. Scully pulled out the diary from her jacket pocket flicking through to the current week's entries. "Yes, here it is and there's a cellular number noted down." She handed the book over to Mulder. Mulder dialled the number on his cell phone waiting for an answer. "Ms. Jordan?" "Yes, this is Marissa Jordan" responded a confident voice. "Who is this speaking?" Her accent confirmed Mulder's thought that she was from Australia. "I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I understand that you had an appointment with Dr. Charles Subanzki yesterday morning." "Yes" came the cautious response. "What was the purpose of your appointment?" "It is not something I wish to discuss" she stated coldly. "Dr. Subanzki disappeared last night in mysterious circumstances" Mulder said in his official bureau voice commanding attention. "This is a federal investigation and I think it would be pertinent for you to answer my questions." Silence met his official tone and a small sigh. "All right, but not over the phone. I would prefer to meet you in person. Where is your office?" "At the Blue Lake Motel." "What?" Marissa's voice exhibited her confusion. "We are from FBI Headquarters in Washington D.C." Mulder explained. "Oh" She lapsed into silence then continued when Mulder did not continue. "I have been here two days Agent Mulder. I will require an address. I would also like your identification numbers so that I might check *your* credentials before coming." she responded, sarcasm dripping off the words. Mulder rattled off their identification numbers for Marissa to check. "Sorry. It's 224 Mountain Road, Ithaca. Do you require directions?" "No, I do have a map although it's nowhere near as good as a 'Melways'" she commented. Mulder's eyebrows crinkled in confusion 'Melways'?" "It doesn't matter. It's just a trade name for our local street directory. I have an appointment at two o'clock this afternoon. Can I meet you at about twelve." It was not a question but more a statement. "Yes, that's fine. "I'm in Room 18. Park directly outside and thank you." "I don't really have a choice in this matter do I?" came the short comment. "No." Mulder replied shortly and the connection was broken. Marissa Jordan had his interest piqued. "Well?" Scully enquired removing her glasses as she turned to face him. "She'll meet us here at twelve. We need to get in touch with the vet and the Dean of the University in the meantime. You've got the number for the vet. I'll track down the Dean." Scully scrambled through the papers dumped over her bed locating the card from the vet, her cellular phone and they both sat down to attend to their calls. - o O o O o O o - "How did you go?" Mulder asked as he finished his call. "I have a two o'clock appointment with a Dr. Morris Gunter. The dog is not expect to survive. What about you?" "The Dean is not aware of Kevin going anywhere but if we attend with ID he will give use a contact number for his parents who live in Washington State." Mulder surveyed the mess spread across Scully's room. "I think it might be an idea if we clean up your room prior to Ms. Jordan's arrival. It might not give her the right impression about American hospitality." "What" Scully was totally confused. "She's Australian" "Oh" Scully's answer was short deciding it was best to wait to find out how an Australian was connected with their investigation. OUTSIDE THE BLUE LAKE MOTEL 11.54 A.M. A black car sat in the street shrouded in shade by the heavily branched trees lining the street, the two occupants slouched low in their seats. They had returned to this particular spot just fifteen minutes before after delivering the good to their superiors, at the same time receiving orders to keep an eye on the agents. They noted the arrival of a small sporty Honda coupe watching the progress of the tall lady to one of the motel rooms they were watching. Using mini-binoculars, one of the men noted down the registration number of the vehicle and immediately made a call on his cell phone. BLUE LAKE MOTEL 11.57 A.M. They had both had assisted each other in getting the overall carnage back in place in their rooms leaving the retrieval of personal items to themselves and they now gave held a semblance of normality which did not reflect what was going through both their minds at this time. Mulder arranged with room service for the delivery of a platter of sandwiches, a carafe of apple juice and a pot of coffee and tea in the next half hour. He sat down on the edge of the bed watching Scully sitting in front of the computer as she waited to be put through to Danny. "Agent Scully, here.. I would like to speak to Danny Valledeo." Scully was mentally counting how many times she would need to repeat this phrase before being connected to him. "Hi Danny. How did you go?" Scully nodded and then her face sobered with the information being given to her. "Thanks, Danny. Can you e-mail what you've got to me, please." she said cutting off the connection. "What?" Mulder asked shortly dreading the answer she was going to give. "Danny received the information I sent to him and has decoded it but to him it still does not make sense though he did comment that with my background in astronomy and physics, I would probably be able to understand it." A fleeting smile went across Scully's face. Mulder had his mouth open ready to respond with a smart retort but an assertive knock interrupted him. Mulder cautiously opened the door to a relatively tall, slightly built lady. She was immaculately dressed in a burgundy pant suit enhancing the deep ebony of her hair and striking deep blue eyes. "Agent Mulder?" she asked, a bare seconds hesitation giving away her nervousness at this meeting. Mulder nodded in response. "I'm Marissa Jordan." she said offering her hand. "Please, come in" he said moving aside to allow her to enter into Scully's room. "Have a seat." he invited indicating the small armchair judiciously placed in the corner of the room. As she made herself comfortable, Mulder introduced Scully to her. They both acknowledged each other with a small inclination of their heads. "As you are now aware, Dr. Subanzki disappeared under mysterious circumstances last night." Mulder began "Now you had an appointment with him yesterday, the subject of which you did not wish to discuss over the phone. What was the subject of your appointment?" "You certainly do get right to the point, Agent Mulder." Marissa Jordan remarked her blue eyes studying Mulder. "I came to give Charles two computer disks which my husband had given me instructions to deliver." "We found *a* disk. Is this one of them?" Scully asked removing the disk from the drive of the laptop and handing it to her. Marissa turned it over in her hand and nodded. "Yes. Where did you find it?" "In his desk at the university." Mulder replied. She looked up at him, her expression harsh. "I told him to keep them separately in safe places. A desk in his office was *not* what I had in mind." she finished emphatically. Mulder and Scully exchanged glances, deciding it was unnecessary to go into an explanation of the exact placement of the diskette. Mulder looked back at Marissa and gently asked "What is so important on these disks?" Marissa stood with a sigh nervously running her hands down the crisp linen of her suit and walked over to the window gazing out at the mountainous view. This was a vast change from the confident woman who had entered the room only moments earlier. As she turned to face them, Mulder and Scully watched the clear blue eyes cloud over with emotion. "My husband was a scientist with the CSIRO in New South Wales in 1992 working in a computerised investigation division. An opportunity came for him to participate in a low profile but high ranking project named Project Phoenix which was to take place at the Parkes Observatory in north eastern New South Wales. The project was to send out transmissions in an extrapolation of the SETI project that was run by the US Government from the observatory to the 172 stars in the southern hemisphere that are only visible and accessible from Australia. He went out to the CSIRO observatory and was to head a small team of three scientists of a similar ranking to himself also connected with the CSIRO." "What is the CSIRO?" Scully interjected. "It stands for Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and is a Government run organisation which has offices in each state of the country. It basically carries out research on behalf of the Commonwealth." Her mouth twisted in an ironic smile. "I've always had a strong belief in the Government of my country, that it had a certain integrity - even if the political parties did abuse each other in Parliament." "Your views have changed?" Scully asked. "With what my husband has told me. Although I have never seen any documentary evidence, my husband told me about the tranmissions he had in his possession. I would never have believed it possible but I would also never have believed the fear which he held for his life, for the knowledge that he had incongruously stumbled upon." Mulder waited with baited breath for her to continue. "What did he find?" Mulder asked gently, his caring side exhibiting itself when she hesitated in continuing. "Whilst working at the observatory, Paul was on shift work with the other three members of his team alternating between day and night shifts. The team was to keep a track of the transmissions coming through as well as ensuring that all the equipment was working." Marissa had been slowly pacing the room her hands alternating between clenching at her side and being tightly crossed over her chest as if trying to hold herself together. "They had been at Parkes for about twelve months when they received a transmission which was like no other they had ever received." "Was it like the WOW signal?" Mulder asked barely containing his excitement his hazel eyes bright with anticipation. "Paul told me that it was nothing like he had every seen before. It was nothing like WOW signal at all. It came through on a frequency that could only represent signs of extraterrestrial intelligence but yet the transmission contained sensitive data about tests being conducted under a joint venture between the Australian and American Government." Mulder and Scully looked at each other confusion but yet also an understanding of what Marissa Jordan's husband had received. "What type of tests?" Mulder injected. "It was not very clear but involved injections being given to the populous in remote townships within Australia. It also referred to similar situations occurring in America, Germany, Japan and Italy. Paul only gave mean overview of what he himself was still trying to comprehend. Apparently, it is littered with a lot of scientific jargon but he also commented that these tests were not possible with our current technology yet appeared to have been conducted over the last fifteen years." She took a deep breath, looking from one Agent to the other before continuing. It was obvious that this was distressing her. "As he was downloading the transmissions onto computer disks, the trnamission suddenly changed and it was no longer legible. The transmission had been encrypted and within minutes ceased." "Where is your husband? Why have you come with the disks for Dr. Subanzki? Why him?" Mulder shot the questions fast and with consternation as the implication of the information contained in the data was revealed. Marissa reclaimed her seat, head bowed with her eyes watching her hands now clenched tightly in her lap. She slowly drew in a short breath, struggling to control her emotions, her words barely a whisper "Because Paul is dead." End Part2/8