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Absconded

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Title: Absconded

Author: Pattie

Rated: G

Category: X-File, Myth Arc

Spoiler(s): Mid-Season 1.

Summary: Our two favorite agents investigate reports of UFO's
syphoning water from lakes and pools, and electrical energy
from power plants. Strange, isn't it? Mulder doesn't think so,
but you know who does.

Feedback: patfiler2016@outlook.com Suggestions or
challenges always welcome.

Archive: Gossamer. I take care of the rest of the
places. If you want to archive it, please ask me first.

Disclaimer: Mulder, Scully and The X-Files are owned by
Chris Carter, Ten Thirteen Productions and Fox Studios.
Fanfiction free of charge with no intentional copyright
infringement. I do miss these people!

Author's Note: While this story was written in 2006, UFOlogists
have been investigating reports of just this type of phenomenon.
EXCEPT at gas stations.



J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
WASHINGTON, DC
OFFICE OF THE X-FILES
SEPTEMBER 21, 1993
8:35 AM

It was Scully's turn to bring the coffee and donuts this morning.
When she walked into the office, she didn't expect to see yet
another slide show so soon after their last case. "Careful. It's
hot," she advised Mulder. "Happy first day of fall. You seem to
love slide shows, don't you?"

"Well, they're a bit out-dated, but also educational, so get
ready to be entertained, informed and armed with questions. And
now, my lovely and talented assistant, Dr. Dana Scully, will
turn down the lights, as we begin our show."

As it was still quite early in their partnership, Scully smiled
slightly, but didn't let Mulder see it. She dimmed the glim and
the show began. "This had better be entertaining, or I'll
want a refund."

"Rural Japan, 1982. This man created a lovely reflecting pool
surrounded by lovingly cultivated vegetation. Pay no attention
to the lovely prize hybrid lilies. They're a red herring." The
slide changed. "Now what do you see?"

"The same man standing over the reflecting pool in his garden.
No reflection. Let me guess, either he drained his pool, or
Godzilla was very thirsty."

"Nice try. No cigar. Godzilla was out of the country at the
time." Click. "Northern Mexico, 1987. A rich entrepreneur
discovers what used to be this full swimming pool drained
by a mysterious overhead craft by means of some sort of
'beam' as he put it. Authorities dismissed his reports as the
product of one of his frequent alcoholic hazes."

"An 'overhead craft' and a 'beam'? Mulder, I'd say he was on
something stronger than alcohol."

"To continue... 1988. A Niagara Falls, Canada, power plant
worker on night shift takes a break, goes out for a smoke, and
sees what appears to be, yes, an overhead craft hovering over
the plant, draining a glowing beam full of electricity. The
lights flicker in the night, and for a period of about three
minutes, there is an interruption in delivery of power to some
3,000 residents. Several other power plants, pools, quarries,
ponds, and lakes have reportedly been syphoned off repeatedly
over the past fifty or so years. Now, why would that happen and
who would need the water and power?"

"Did it happen? That's the question you should be asking, Mulder.
This is something I'd expect to see on 'Strange Alien Sightings'
or in a low-budget science fiction movie." Scully sipped her
coffee and shook her head. "They can have this. I think I got
the bottom of the pot."

"In these cases, as well as many others, there were many other
witnesses who saw the exact same things happening at the exact
same time. And should anyone write such a movie, it wouldn't
be that far-fetched. I've been asked to investigate just such
a sighting at an Ohio power plant. Besides, as long as I'm
not here asking the higher ups to believe these things, the
happier they are. Scully, you get to try to debunk yet another
wild story I'm checking out." Mulder sipped his coffee. "I
wouldn't give this to them or anybody else. Where did you get
it this time? Maybe you can get your refund after all. But for
the refreshments, not the entertainment."

Scully raised her hands in mock surrender. "CoffeeRama. Never
again. I promise. I do recall you saying Ohio is a hot spot
for reported UFO activity."


***

POWER PLANT
OHIO.
3:37 PM


The Supervisor at the power plant showed Mulder and Scully a list
of names and written accounts gleaned from employees who had
witnessed the craft in the process of draining power from
the transformers outside of the plant.

Mulder scanned the list of names briefly and handed it to Scully.
"Mr. Perkins, your name is on this list as well. Do you know if
anyone in the area happened to take any photographs or videos
while this was going on?"

The grey haired man shook his head. "You might want to ask the
local police about any reports of flying saucers that night. I
was here and Whitman called me out there to check it out. Agent
Mulder, when nine people see the same thing and report it the
same way in general, that's a concensus."

"You're right. Look, here's my card. We may want to interview
your fellow employees."

Scully had some questions of her own. This was an ancient
question many investigators have asked. "Mr. Perkins, it says
here that the latest incident happened at night. It seems the
other sightings were at night. Now, why wouldn't there be a
sighting in the daytime?"

Perkins laughed. "Agent Scully, I've always wondered that
myself. Before the night I saw this, I hadn't been on the night
shift, and I sure didn't consider myself a 'believer', but I
don't think I know the answer to that one. Annie, my seventeen-
year-old daughter, watches shows about these sightings, and
she asks ME that same question."

Mulder found it rather amusing. "I've seen it in a lot of
reports, Scully. Apparently 'nighttime seems to be the right
time.' And speaking of time, thanks for yours, Mr. Perkins.
May we take these with us?"

"No problem. I'll be here tomorrow, same as every work day."

On the way out of the plant, Mulder suggested they visit the
local police and go over copies of other reports about the most
recent sightings.

"Mulder, this is just science fiction! How can you sit and read
all these things without laughing?"

"Same as you can, Scully. Sitting right in the motel over
take-out and soda." He held the door for her, and she still
shook her head in disbelief.

"What next? Filling up at gas stations and not paying?"

"Left those at home, Scully. They're not part of this case." He
gave her a wry grin as he opened the car door. "But this is a
hot spot for that kind of sighting as well."


***

RED HOT MOTEL
6:30 PM


Over dinner and a casefile, Mulder and Scully compared world-wide
reports of drained pools and power plants.

"Just what did they see in the sky?" Scully wondered aloud.

"Most report seeing a triangular craft of some sort with the
bright lights, no sound, a beam and the removal of water and
power. My guess is they saw the same thing I saw at Ellens Air
Force base. The same thing you denied seeing."

Once again, Scully was peeved. "I didn't deny 'seeing' anything,
Mulder. I denied that it was a space craft because a lot of
things can be mistaken for UFOs. That's why perfectly natural,
as yet unexplained phenomena in the night sky are given the term
'UFO'. They're just... unidentified!"

"Blow your stack, Scully. But the accounts here of power drainage,
water suddenly leaving pools, ponds and reservoirs in 'beams'
are all consistent with some sort of aircraft performing some
act perhaps you haven't seen, but those people have." He handed
another stack of folders to his partner. "Keep reading. And look
at the pictures, too. The reports with pictures are always more
fun to read. After sunset, we're going out to watch the night
sky."

"Hopefully by then, I'll have the nine most recent reports the
power plant workers gave us read. Sunset's around 8:00 I believe."

"If nothing pans out here, we can always go to Japan or Mexico."

"Oh no, Mulder. We're not going half-way around the world on
the Bureau's tab. Download the information if you have to, but
don't take this interest of yours and make it the taxpayers'
Top Ten Federal Expenses List."

That evening, they sat out near the power plant and saw nothing
out of the ordinary. Scully thought it ridiculous to have spent
the taxpayers' money for nothing. The following night was the
same. However, the night after that, just as they were ready
to return the police reports and leave town, something strange
was about to unfold.


RED HOT MOTEL
SEPTEMBER 23, 1993
8:30 PM

Scully had agreed to stay in Ohio one more night, if only because
they had photocopied the interviews they had gleaned from Mr.
Perkins and the police department. It was sunset, and the agents
were preparing to leave.

As Scully was in her room packing, Mulder received a call.

"Mulder."

"It's Bill Durham, evening Supervisor. If you were out here, you
would have seen one beaut of a light show. Perkins left us your
number."

"We're on our way," Mr. Durham."


POWER PLANT
8:50 PM

Mulder and Scully sat in the office Durham used during the
evenings, and heard the same unbelievable story.

"And I'd swear it was like right out of a movie, except it wasn't
an invisible beam like on TV."

The ever skeptical Scully didn't buy it. "So you're saying they
beamed the energy up into a spaceship and took off. Just like
that."

The man snapped his fingers. "Just like that, Ma'am."

"My partner's just finding it hard to believe, Sir. Would you
mind if we spoke to a few of the other workers?"

"Well, I can pull one or two in here at a time, I suppose... "
As Durham prepared to summon one of the workers who had
seen the phenomenon, the phone rang. "Son of a gun, it's a
double fill-up night."

Scully snickered and tried to withhold a full-fledged laugh.
"You must be a popular station."

Mulder ran for the door. "Let's get out there!" Scully followed
as the power plant's lights flickered, and when they arrived
outside, they saw what appeared to be a beam of particles
flowing from the plant to... something. Mulder knew the
'something' resembled a spacecraft.

Scully looked and perhaps it was her doubt that clouded her
sight, but she didn't believe she saw anything except a beam
of light. "Any helicopters around the area?"

"Do you hear any choppers or feel any wind?" Durham
shouted.

"I don't," Mulder said. The beam stopped and whatever was
above quickly vanished.

"I swear I didn't see anything except a lot of light," Scully
said.

"Yeah, well I bet a lot of people saw the same thing Mr. Durham
and I saw, Scully. After all the reports, all the cases, and
everything you have seen, including a minute ago, you just
won't believe."

"I believe something happened, but most certainly not some
spacecraft using the plant as a filling station."

A woman ran through the gates shouting, "My God! Some guys
in an Army truck took Bates, Phillips, Murphy and Lawson. I saw
this... this guy with a needle. I think he was tranquillizing
them!"

"Well, let's go! Tell us where they went!"

Durham took Mulder aside and whispered, "It's no use. This is
something that happens on a regular basis, the guys don't
remember anything, and the reports you read are from those who
were not caught. They were the smart ones. No one believes in
flying saucers. Agent Mulder, maybe you and I and Lucy here
believe what they saw, but no one, from the Pentagon downward,
will ever publicly state what's going on. I'm told my mind
was messed with a few times, and while I may get away with
remembering what we saw this evening, I don't think it would
convince anyone except science fiction buffs."

"You're saying your memory was erased? That your fellow
employees' minds wer erased?" Scully asked. Her expression
was beginning to reveal some hint of belief.

"That's exactly what he's saying, Scully. It's going to take
a lot more than the reports we have to convince people these
things have happened. Even if we went to Mexico and saw
the pool drained, or Japen and personally witnessed the
reflecting pool being drained, and took videos. there are men
who do not want this kind of thing getting out, and they'll do
anything to stop it from being proven."

"A conspiracy? Mulder, you really ARE crazy."

"Then we all are," Durham stated flatly. "Well, I have a job
to do. Those workers will be back in about an hour, and we
have a wide area to serve, so I'm going back to work."

"Just like that?" Mulder asked. "You have to tell me everything
you know about what's been happening."

"Agent Mulder, if I did, someone would find a way to make sure
I forget about it, then deny remembering it. And I wouldn't
remember. You need a lot more ammunition than just folks like
me. As for you, Agent Scully, believe. That's my best advice.
And even though you wouldn't be successful trying to convince
many people, believe."

"Believe that space ships have absconded with water and
electricity?"

Mulder took Scully by the arm. "One day, you will. I know you
will, Scully. I don't know how many times it will take, how many
things you'll see, but that day will come."

They looked into the sky together, and saw the stars, the
constellations, perhaps the light cast from Venus or Mars.
Then,they saw something veering across the sky leaving a trail.

"A meteorite," Scully remarked.

Her partner whispered, "Are you sure?"

Even Scully wondered if she was sure.

"I just know there'll be messages in my email and tomorrow's
letter mail," Mulder added. "Maybe some day, you'll get the
message."

Scully couldn't find anything to say at that point. Many things
went through her mind, and they made little sense to her.

That night, as well as many other nights, all over the world,
several people reported syphoned pools, reservoirs, reflecting
pools and power plants. There would be more entries into the
X-Files archives, yet they would leave more questions than
answers. Until the day when Mulder and Scully would find the
truth.


END

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