The Impossible Children

Although Fran Blomstein, Dr. Samuels, and Kurt Hummel had given them good information regarding the recent alien abductions taking place in New York, it was proving difficult to convince those above Mulder and Scully of the need to investigate the matter further. There was a case in a small town in Minnesota that Mulder believed was almost certainly related to the alien activity in New York, and if they could just investigate there next, Mulder hoped he could offer proof of his claims, that he could impress upon everyone else the urgency of the possible situation they were facing. People were being seriously harmed and even killed, and it was a very distinct—hell, very likely—possibility that this was all part of a plot to colonize Earth.

Aliens were using humans to reproduce offspring, and they were even using men for whatever reason. They were creating hybrids. Why would they want or need to do that? Was it part of a long term plot to infiltrate human society from the inside? Would these hybrids look human enough to do that? Mulder had seen that before, so it wasn’t hard to believe that it could be possible.

“Mulder, come take a look at this,” Scully said, rousing him from his contemplation. She was working on her laptop and up until about a minute ago had been typing furiously. They had come home, but had both brought work with them. It was funny how they both still did that, even all these years later. At least now, they could do it together.

Mulder walked over to where she sat on their bed and asked, “What is it, Scully?”

“I’ve just received a very strange email,” she responded.

“‘Strange’ how?” Mulder asked and thought about making some sort of crack probably about pornographic spam until he became too distracted reading the contents of the email message in question over Scully’s shoulder.

The message claimed to be from a top secret special ops group from the UK, known as Torchwood. Something about the name rang a bell; maybe he had something about a “Torchwood” in one of his files perhaps. They described events very much like the ones he and Scully were currently investigating. Apparently, they too were investigating this phenomena.

“They’re proposing that we work together, help each other,” Scully said, “but how do we know if they even a legitimate organization?”

Mulder studied the email message and considered it. “We don’t.” He paused. “We don’t know if we can trust them either. Better save that message.” They might need to look more into this Torchwood group and their findings later.

“I don’t get it, Jack,” Mickey said, not looking away from the computer as he continued to type, “Why are we trying to contact the American FBI? And what’s so special about these two agents in particular?”

“Special Agent Fox Mulder and Special Agent Dana Scully do what we do— or at least they think they do,” Jack answered, “I’ve been keeping track of their work for years. Usually it’s nothing, just a good read for a laugh, but sometimes they do find something actually alien, which means they can be either helpful or dangerous, depending on the case.”

“And you reckon they’re investigating this whole alien pregnancy thing?” Mickey asked.

“If they aren’t already, I know they will when they find out about it,” Jack replied, “Trust me. This is right up their alley.” After a pause, he added, “Keep working on getting those files, Let me know if you find anything.” With that, he headed back towards his office.

“Sure thing, boss,” Mickey replied and continued working.

“I’ve hacked into some of their files, but they don’t have much,” Mickey said, after working furiously at the computer for several minutes.

“Have they contacted us yet?” Martha asked, emerging from the medical bay.

“No, they haven’t,” Mickey replied.

“And they probably won’t,” Jack said, “sending them a message via email was more of a formality. We need to contact them in a more direct way if we actually want a response.”

Sensing a command coming, Mickey asked, “Alright, boss, what do you want me to do?”

“I need you to start hacking again; this time we need to find a way to establish video contact,” Jack explained.

“So, like a video chat, then? That should be fairly easy,” Mickey said, a tad smugly and got immediately back to work.

They had been in Minnesota all of a day, investigating the mysterious death of Joseph Taylor and the equally mysterious disappearance of one of his neighbors Cassidy Fleetwood, and Scully was typing her usual notes when suddenly she noticed the light near her laptop’s webcam activate. Quickly she closed her work and moved away from the machine, debating whether or not to close it.

Knowing Mulder would return soon, she sent him a text message (not something she did terribly often) alerting him to the situation. Just as she was about to close the laptop, she heard voices issuing from it. One was British-accented and very cockney, and the other sounded American, albeit a bit odd.

The British voice sounded a bit far off at first, as if he had moved away from the microphone to shout across a room at someone. “I think I’ve done it!” he said, “But I don’t see anyone there.”

Scully’s mind raced. What was going on? She was far too captivated to close the computer now. Suddenly, she remembered the strange email from the other day. “Torchwood,” she thought. She listened on.

“Well, they’ve gotta be there, right? The computer’s running, and someone was just working on it,” the cockney man continued, probably replying to someone inaudible to Scully.

At this point, the American voice spoke, “These two are professionals when it comes to being paranoid. Trust me, they’re there.” He sounded like he was slightly far away but getting closer as he spoke.

Around that time, Mulder entered the hotel room, and even though she had been expecting him, Scully nearly leaped out of her skin. Mulder remained silent, having clearly gotten her message, but gave her a questioning look.

The American-accented voice issued from the laptop again. This time he sounded close and was direct. “Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully? This is Captain Jack Harkness with Torchwood. We know you’re there, so you might as well at least talk to us.” The latter part was said so casually, the man might have just as well been asking them out to lunch.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other. Should they play along? After a tense moment of indecision, they concluded that they would do so very carefully.

“Alright, we’re here. Now what do you want?” Mulder said at last.

“Oh, so authoritative!” Captain Jack responded, “Don’t I get to see the face that goes with that voice?”

Mulder looked at Scully, who raised an eyebrow. Was this strange man flirting with him? He shook his head, refusing to let the odd remark shake him. “State your business first.”

“Alien abductions, lots of them,” Captain Jack said, “and a lot of unwanted pregnancies as a direct result.” After a pause, he added, “You guys got our message, I’m sure.”

“You said you’re a top secret special ops. What could you hope to gain from working with the FBI?” Scully asked.

“Ah, now that’s definitely a voice I want to see the face to,” Captain Jack said.

“Just answer the damn question,” Mulder responded.

“A little protective, I see. I don’t blame you for that,” Captain Jack said, “We want to work with you two specifically, not necessarily the FBI, because this situation is bigger than all of us and we need all the help we can get. We understand that this sort of thing is your specialty.”

“And how do we know we can trust you?” Mulder asked.

“Well, I guess you don’t,” Captain Jack replied, “but I think we would be a lot of help to each other, seeing as we’re investigating the same thing. So, we could try to work around the trust issues for the greater good, don’t you think?”

The two agents looked at each other, considering the strange captain’s words.

“I can have Mickey send you some of the data we’ve collected so far on this case, and all you have to do is send us your findings,” Captain Jack continued.

“I’m guessing that you’re just gonna steal them from us if we don’t send them,” Mulder commented.

“That’s probably a fair assumption to make,” Captain Jack said, his tone becoming slightly ominous.

“So, we might as well get something out of the arrangement,” Mulder continued. With hesitance, he crouched beside the hotel bed and turned the laptop around. Scully moved into the frame beside him, curious to see the strange man they had been dealing with.

The handsome man on the screen beamed at them. “Alright! I’ll have Mickey send you those files. I’m sure it will be a pleasure working with you both.” With that, he disconnected.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other. What had they just gotten themselves into?

“Any word from The Doctor?” Mickey asked Martha.

She shook her head. “Still nothing.”

“Oh.” Mickey’s brows furrowed. Wasn’t this whole situation the sort of thing The Doctor should get involved with? Why wasn’t he already there trying to save the Earth with them? He probably had some sort of reason, but Mickey had his doubts it was good enough. Not when there were lives at risk.

Before Martha could speak up again and break his thoughts, Jack entered the medical bay and interrupted them, “Ah, Mickey Smith, just the man I wanted to see. I’ve got another job for you.”

“Yes, boss?” Mickey asked, looking at Jack expectantly.

“I need you to look up Dr. John Samuels, try to get as much on him as possible as well as the Marcus Blevins Medical Center and any patients he might have and any other information that might be helpful to this case,” Jack explained.

“Yes, sir,” Mickey said. Back to his station at the computer then.

After many long hours of hacking, researching, background checking, and more hacking, it was revealed that Dr. John Samuels was an adamant UFO and extraterrestrial enthusiast, was once an obstetrician in a different hospital before ending up in his current job, was happily married to a woman but was childless, and had at least one patient that he had seen recently that might be of interest to Torchwood’s current investigation. Mickey would have to keep digging for more info on that last part, but having gotten as far as he had already he didn’t figure it would take him too long. He was also prepared to hack both Dr. Samuels’s personal and work computers in the same fashion he had hacked Special Agent Scully’s laptop, in the event that Jack wanted to contact Dr. Samuels the way he had contacted the two FBI agents.

In the end, it was decided that, for now at least, contacting Dr. Samuels was not worth the risk. Dr. Samuels had less to offer them directly than Agents Mulder and Scully, and he seemed even more likely to tell others about them. They couldn’t risk that kind of exposure any more than they had to. They’d already risked enough by working with the two FBI agents.

No, John Samuels would have to help them without knowing he was helping them. His patient on the other hand...Well, they would have to see about that.