Year: 1999

1.

Scully heard Mulder humming along to the Joni Mitchell song and, keeping her eyes shut, imagined his head bobbing gently. They had been driving for hours through the corn fields of Iowa, and then Nebraska. She could tell that she had been asleep for a while – that it was time to stretch and regroup with Mulder about the case – but she didn't want to move. Mulder had the heat blowing and his voice sounded low and soft, in harmony with the music.

He was in a good mood. The case seemed to defy any sort of grotesque, rational logic. The entire town of Athens, Nebraska, had started speaking ancient Greek. Only a visiting professor from the University of Oklahoma – James Wang – could communicate with the locals, who didn't seem to realize that this language shift was internal.

"Everyone from outside the town is suddenly an intrusive immigrant," Wang had reported to the FBI. "Outsiders are foreigners, threatening to bombard the town's history and culture. I am barely tolerated." His case notes further warned that the townsfolk wanted to blockade the entry and exist roads, effectively boxing themselves in from the outside world. "They keep asking me why all these aliens are passing through. They think it has to do with the interstate, even though it's been there for fifty years," Wang had written.

"A new kind of alien for you there," Scully had said after reading the report and dropping it onto Mulder's desk.

"When can you leave?" Mulder had asked. Scully had raised her eyebrows.

They had argued over theories on time warps – Mulder's first thought – for the first few hours of their drive from the Omaha airport. Athens was in the state's northwest region, a tiny dot among an empty tan block on the map.

She let her eyes flutter open. Red dusk hit the dusty prairie outside.

"Hey sleepy," Mulder said. He glanced at her and grinned, before returning his eyes to the road. "We're almost there."

Scully scooted up in her seat. "Where are we meeting the professor again?"

"He told us to meet him at the trucking depo outside town."

She looked outside. "Man, there's really nothing out here, is there?"

Mulder laughed. "In the 1850s giant clouds of insects swarmed across this land. They ate the clothing off struggling farmers."

Scully laughed. "Where'd you learn that?" she asked.

"Laura Engel Wilder's biography," Mulder said.

She laughed again. "I never would have pegged you for a Little House on the Prairie fan," she said.

Mulder shrugged. "What can I say? Gender roles don't define me." On the horizon, a long, grey pole support a sign that said 'Mobile' at its top in blue letters. "Looks like it's our stop," he said.

Scully squinted. "It looks abandoned."

"No. Look there." Mulder pointed. A green Chevy caprice was parked in the corner of the depo's parking lot. They pulled up to it.

A tall man with dirty khakis and a trench coat was leaning on the car. He sprung up and waved at them as Mulder parked a few yards from him.

"Agents' Mulder and Scully?" Professor Wang said as Scully opened the door. The cold air rushed in toward her.

"Present!" Mulder tugged his badge out of his pocket and showed Wang.

The professor did not wait for Scully to show her badge. "Shh." He scuttled up to them. "It's a sincerely pleasure to meet you. May I ask you keep your voices down? I don't want to take any chances."

Wang hand mentioned that the townspeople were agitated, but she did not think they were lurking around the remote truck spot. "You said you would escort us to the motel. Should we follow you in your car?"

"Actually, I was hoping I might drive you. Your car will be safe parked around the back of the gas station, and that way we can cause the least amount of attention as possible."

Mulder and Scully exchanged glances. "We would really rather have our own means of transportation to investigate," Scully said.

Professor Wang looked uncomfortable. "I-I'm afraid the more townspeople know that outsiders are staying at the hotel, the more hostile they might become."

Wind whipped across the prairie. Scully heard a high shriek somewhere in the distance.

"Why don't we drive you? We'll all be working together, and then agent Scully and I can ensure we do not forget any of our tools or forgo our protocol." Mulders said. He took a step towards their government Ford.

Professor Wang's face looked red and his jaw set. "Umm. Well. I-I…"

"No one will notice a slightly different in this darkness." Mulder unlocked the Ford's door.

"T-they…"

"Please, Professor Wang. We can either drive or follow you."

Professor Wang glanced at his car again. "Okay. Please follow me closely. And keep your headlights off."