Extra-Sensory Perception

Chapter Four:

	Mulder bent over the side of the "Pequod," his face slightly green, 
visibly straining to keep the contents of his stomach *in* his stomach. 
	"Scully, did you see the PBS documentary the other night about the 
Giant Squid?"
	Scully glanced away form the steering wheel and chart, toward Mulder. 
"I must have missed it."
	Mulder looked down at the water, his hands resting lighty on the rail. 
"You know, though rarely found, they're actually in every ocean on 
earth. They thrive in the bottom of the sea, living on whatever other 
creatures thrive down there. The grow up to--to 60 feet long," Mulder 
held his arms out to full span, "but one's never been seen one alive. 
Archinthuis Dux, they call it." Mulder turned back to the water. 
"Scully, have you ever heard of the Kraken?"
	Scully turned back to the wheel. She didn't know where Mulder was going 
with this, but she went along with it. "The Sea Monster, right? My 
father had told me about it, when I was little. The many-armed monster 
that sunk ships, then devoured them."
	"Your father was a learned man, Scully. The sighting of the biggest one 
was in 1752. The Bishop of Bergen, Erik Pontoppidan, described the 
Kraken as a--a 'floating island.'" Mulder stared out to sea. "One and a 
half miles across, supposedly. Funny thing is, the legend of the Kraken 
is the one Sea Monster legend that is anywhere close to fact."
	"How's that, Mulder?" Scully asked, looking at the radar screen for any 
sign of marine life.
	"Think about it, Scully. This Kraken, it had many arms, or maybe they 
were legs, and there were sightings of it all over the globe. Their 
tentacles supposedly had weird-looking suction cups on them, and it's 
head was massive. It looked like a giant octupus. The only difference 
between it and the modern Giant Squid is that the squid has a longer 
head, and only one eye. Which--" Mulder glanced back at Scully, "--which 
only makes the creature all the more terrifying."
	Scully looked back at Mulder. "So, what you're saying is that the Giant 
Squid is really an ancient Sea Monster that seamen claimed devoured 
ships whole, and could overtake a whole island mass?" She looked to the 
sea. "Sounds more like a typhoon to me, Mulder."
	Mulder turned away from the sea, and leaned back against the rail, 
keeping his hands anchored to the railing. "Could be, Scully, but a 
typhoon doesn't have massively long legs, huge all-seeing eyes, with an 
uncanny ability to bring any sailor to his knees."
	Scully raised her eyebrows, and smirked. "You're right, Mulder. Sounds 
more like one of the characters from your video collection to me." She 
turned back to the radar, not giving him the chance to respond, and 
said, "Why are you telling me all this? Does it have some hidden insight 
into the case?"
	"It does now. If you see any Kraken on the radar, let me know, because 
I'll take some pictures, send them out to Frohike, and maybe he'll let 
us talk to him about what he found out last night."
	Scully frowned. "How does he know about the case?"
	"I told him about it. Skinner had told me that this case was something 
our black-lunged friend wanted keep from us, and that I was to take this 
seriously. So, I called Frohike to see what it was about. Evidently 
Byers knows something about a dolphin project being run not far from 
here, by the DOD."
	Scully's eyebrows knitted. "But what would the Department of Defense be 
doing with bottle-nosed dolphins?"
	"That's why we're here, Scully. I would have told you on the dock when 
he called, but I didn't unwelcome ears to overhear." He walked away from 
the little deck, and stood by her.
	"Ah, so that's who called from the phonebooth. I had a feeling that you 
couldn't be reading a crank-caller his rights for that long." Scully 
turned away from him, when something beeped on the screen. "Hey Mulder, 
take a look at this. I'm getting some weird readings, big ones, coming 
from 12:00. Whatever it is, it's headed right toward us."
	Mulder looked over Scully's shoulder, and his eyes opened wider. "Here 
be monsters, Scully." 
	Scully looked at him, her eyebrows raised, and a half-smile breaking 
across her face. "Let's check it out."

					*	*	*

10 minutes later
	
	Mulder climbed up the anchor of the massive Oil Tanker, Scully 
following close behind him. 	"Tell me, Scully, why is an abandoned Oil 
tanker sitting not 15 miles away from the Cape May coast?"
	"I never said I had all the answers, Mulder. I am, after all, just your 
average G-Woman."
	"Never, Scully." Then: "Hey, Scully, is this boyish display of agility 
turning you on at all?" He glanced under him. "You never did answer my 
question." He grinned.
	She tried to hide a smile, unsuccessfully. "Mulder, I think some 
questions are better left unanswered."	
	"Funny you should mention that, Scully, since we're here looking for 
answers..."
	"Shut up, Mulder. Just keep going."
	"Sure. Fine. Whatever."
	He reached the top of the anchor, and swung over the side of the ship, 
landing hard on the deck. Scully followed suit, landing on her arm. 
Mulder bent down, and asked: "You okay?"
	"I'm fine, Mulder."
	He hated that phrase, because he knew she never meant it when she said 
it. He helped her to her feet, then looked around. "Looks like someone 
forgot to call the Maid-Service," Mulder said softly.
	All around them, cans were over turned, papers flung about carelessly, 
men dead on the ground. 
	"I'll take the cabin, Scully," Mulder murmered. "You take the main 
deck."
	Scully nodded, cocked her gun, and turned toward the deck. Mulder drew 
his gun, and entered the cabin. 
	Inside, papers and folders were scattered all over the desk. He 
searched in the drawers, finding nothing but navigation instruments,  
left-over twinkies, and Oatmeal Cream Pies. 'Guy had a penchant for 
Little Debbies,' Mulder mused to himself. He walked over to a 
book-shelf, looking through the assortment of literature. 'The Count of 
Monte Cristo,' 'The Taming of the Shrew,' 'Tale of Two Cities,' the 
latest edition of 'Celebrity Skin.' Mulder grinned. A partner in 
crime.He took out the magazine, ready to leaf through it, then saw the 
title. 'Alien Probe.' 'Crap,' he thought. 'Already read it.' But then, 
as he reached the Centrefold, a yellow piece of paper fell out. Putting 
the magazine back in its place, in case Scully should come in, he picked 
up the yellow letter. 

'Commender Schmidt:
	
	On behalf of the Group, I wish to congradulate you on your fine work 
with the dolphins. We all appreciate the silence and confidentiality 
that you have given the project. We are now requesting the research 
papers. The Japanese are watching us closely, but they do not know of 
the project, or its purpose. We wish to keep it that way, so we are 
sending a crew to meet you aat the rendevous point. Again, our sincere 
thanks and gratitude.

Sincerely,

Lt. Major. Christopher Rawling'

	Mulder frowned and  folded up the letter, and as he did so, the smell 
of nicotine invaded his nostrils. Mulder closed his eyes and put a 
finger under his nose, then put the letter in his pants pocket. Just as 
he was headed back for the dock, her heard Scully yell his name. He ran 
for the Main Deck.
	"Mulder!"
	Hearing the urgency in her voice only made him run faster.
	"MULDER!"
	He sped up to deck, saw Scully, and then saw who she was with. 
	A man with a gunshot wound to the arm, a red face, grey hair beneath a 
sea hat, and dark clothing was crouched next to Scully.
	"Mulder, I think you should hear what this man has to say, Scully said, 
looking anxiously at Mulder.
	Mulder put his hands on his knees, crouching to catch his breath, then 
said: "Who are you?" to the man next to Scully.
	"My name is Commander Thomas Schmidt, of the crew of the U.S. Asriel."
	"Commander Schmidt, my name is Fox Mulder. What happened here?"
	"We were sent here to give them the papers," the older man said, and 
heaved a sigh of exhaustion. "When we arrived here at the redevous, they 
were to meet us. Once we handed the papers over, they took out their 
machine guns, and just started shooting at us. Some jumped overboard. 
But it's a 15 mile swim from here to the shore, so I doubt they made it. 
I'm the only survivor of this holocaust. Unless you know something I 
don't." He look up at Mulder, hope glinting in his eyes.
	"Sir, I'm sorry, but you're the only one I've found." Mulder turned to 
Scully. "Scully?"
	Scully shook her head. "I'm sorry, Commander Schmidt."
	"Call me Tom," he said to Scully. Mulder raised his eyebrows at Scully, 
then pushed out his upper teeth.
	Scully glared at Mulder, then turned to Tom. "Sir, who were the men who 
tried to kill you?"
	"The Group, they called themselves. They had us working on a project." 
He seemed to hesitate, as though reluctant to go on. 
	"Sir," Scully said, "these men killed all your men, then tried to kill 
you, too. If this project you were working could expose them in any way, 
you need to tell us so that we can bring these man to justice."
	"These men *are* justice, Agent Scully," Tom said fiercely. He rubbed 
the stubble on his cheeks and chin."The project they had us working on 
was code-named 'Delphi.' We were working on something to help dolphins 
communicate with men. A machine, that translated dolphin whistles and 
chirrups into words on a screen."
	Scully looked at Mulder, who looked back at Scully, his eyes wide.
	"Why were they working on this machine?" Mulder asked.
	Tom chuckled, though there was no happiness in his laughter. " 'For the 
good of Mankind,' they said. Hmph. They were working on ways to 
commincate with dolphins, so that they, the dolphins, could do their 
dirty-work."
	"What do you mean?" Scully inquired.
	"What I mean," said Tom, "is that the Japanese are getting further 
ahead of us, and that ticked these men off. So they want to get these 
dolphins to carry bombs over to Japan, and to bomb their missile 
stations and research centers. As a kamakaze act. The dolphins lives, 
for humanity's gain."
	Mulder looked at the commander in disgust. "And you helped these men in 
this 'project' of theirs?"
	"They were paying good money." Tom shrugged. "All life lives at the 
expense of other life, Agent Mulder. I thought you'd have learned that 
by now."
	Mulder scowled. "Not at that price. Dolphins kill because they have to. 
Those men kill because they want power. Tell me, Commander, what are the 
Japanese doing to get the group so 'ticked off?'"
	"I can't tell you that, at the risk of my own life and career. What I 
can tell you is that these men will stop at *nothing* to get what they 
need. And that they are very close, Agents. Too close for comfort."
	Mulder looked at Scully, and nodded his head in the direction of the 
anchor. Scully followed him down.
	"How many projects do these men have, Mulder?" Scully asked, on her way 
down to the 'Pequod.'
	"I don't know, Scully. Let's just hope that this is the last one. I 
don't want to end up in a barren wasteland again."
	Below him, though he couldn't see her, Scully's breath caught in her 
throat, and she had to blink back tears. She'd never gotton to thank him 
appropriately for what he'd done for her. He'd traveled through hell and 
back for her, gave her his own clothes(she hoped he hadn't seen too 
much), carried her up a never-ending well, gave her her breath back, and 
saved her from God knew what. Not they she knew what 'appropriately' was 
anymore. By his actions, she knew that he didn't need her to thank him, 
and that to have her back in his life was enough. But she still felt 
that something had been left unsaid, and that whatever it was, it was 
causing a lot of tension between them. And it needed to get out in the 
open, soon.