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Title: Blue Sphere Summary: A man in Mississippi mysteriously dies of extreme burns, and Mulder and Scully are sent to investigate. Mulder suspects ball lightning. Chapter 1 January 30, 1998 9:30 P.M. Melissa Steinway stared at the papers in front of her and sighed. So many things had happened in the last month. This was the month in which she celebrated her thirty-fifth birthday as well as her daughter Emily's sixth. This was Melissa's blessing; the two special days were only two days apart, so they celebrated them together. Melissa had bought Emily the little pink bike that she had had her eyes on. Emily was so happy when she saw it. Melissa wouldn't have traded that moment in her life for anything. This was the month where she finally saved enough money to quit her job at the Sunny Side Diner and go to college, something she'd dreamed about doing for years. Her family was poor and couldn't support her after she moved out. That was why she married early. Melissa pulled the papers closer. This was also the month that she had decided to escape from her husband, Ray. Ray was a large but desperate man. He always had money problems, and he had plenty of other problems too, one of them alcohol. He had run off with a girl younger than she. Melissa had grown to hate him. But if she hated him so much, then why was signing these papers so difficult? Because signing these papers makes you independent, Melissa thought. Is that what she wanted? Could she really survive on her own, supporting a six-year-old? Her college plans would have to be canceled, or at least put on hold. Melissa knew it was going to be difficult raising Emily, but somehow she would manage. It couldn't be any worse out there than it was in here. "Mommy? Will you tuck me in?" she heard Emily call from her upstairs bedroom. "Sure, hun. Could you give me a minute?" Melissa called upstairs. Melissa had made her decision. She knew what was best for her, and more importantly, she knew what was best for Emily. There were already too many mental scars, and more than enough physical ones... Melissa picked up the pen and began to sign her name on the dotted line. She had gotten no farther than signing her first name, when she saw a flash behind her. Two headlights broke the darkness of the side field that her family owned on the side of the house.=EE=04 The headlights turned off and a a car door opened. Melissa heard a hacking cough and the car door slam shut. She knew who it was without even seeing the owner of the car, and only God knew what he was going to do tonight. The door opened, and the smell of alcohol came through it. Ray walked through it and grunted towards Melissa. She stood up, blocking the divorce papers from Ray's sight. Ray looked right through her, as if she wasn't there. He looked as if he was trying to see the picture in a Magic Eye painting. That stare wasn't new to Melissa. She had grown accustomed to it. At first the stare had made her nervous. But as time went by, she began to realize what the stare meant. To Ray, she was an apparition, or a piece of glass. "Where's my dinner?" Ray grunted. Melissa tightened. Of all the things going through her head that night, making dinner for Ray wasn't one of them. She began to stutter. "I...I...uh...forgot." This last word was said as quietly as Melissa could make it. Ray's stare began to focus on her. This only happened when he began to get angry. And when Ray began to get angry, he began to get angry. " You what?" he asked loudly. " You forgot to make me my DINNER??" As Ray tried to comprehend this act of stupidity, Melissa slowly backed towards the living room in back of her. She saw what was coming next. Ray slowly moved toward her and raised his hand. Emily sat up in bed. Loud noises had been coming from downstairs. Emily, though only six, knew what this meant. Her father had come home. Small footsteps moved toward her door. Because her room was dark, she couldn't see the figure in the doorway. "Mommy? Is that you?" she whispered quietly, hoping that it was. "Yes, it's me, hun," a voice answered. Emily's mother was quivering. " You want me to read you a story?" "No, that's okay." Emily could sense her mother's weariness and would try to help her the best that she could. Her mother moved forward to give Emily a kiss, and she took it gladly. As she moved forward, Emily saw the marks on her mother's face. She felt something spark in her mind. It was anger. Melissa kissed Emily good night and moved slowly out the door. Ray grabbed a beer from the fridge and looked out the window. A wind rattled the windowpanes. He let out a belch and moved toward the table. Ntoicing the papers on the table, he sorted through them and frowned. Melissa would have to find a better way out than that, he thought. What did she think he was? Stupid? He gave another moment of hesitation and picked up the papers, ready to tear them to pieces. Suddenly, a blue light shone through the window. Ray turned to look at the source of the blue light. At first, Ray couldn't see the source of the light, but he could hear a hising noise, almost like a gas leak. He then smelt something in the air. Ozone, he thought to himself. He had heard the weather report on the radio and had heard no report of a storm in the area. Although it was very cloudy, there was no wind and no rain. Suddenly, the source of the light came into his view. "What the hell?" Ray whispered to himself. Zigzagging across the field beside the farmhouse was a blue ball, about half a meter in diameter. As it came closer to the house, the hissing noise became louder and the ozone smell became stronger. He opened his mouth in awe and opened the window for a closer look. The ball immediately changed its course for the window. Ray uttered a gasp and slammed the window down. He started to back away from it. The blue ball appeared in the window and slowly moved through the window, leaving a perfectly round hole in it. Ray tried to screeam, but no sound left his mouth. Although he had soent years making sure that he was the dominant one in the family, he felt himself being reduced to a coward in front of the glowing ball. What is it, he asked himself. Suddenly, the ball stopped. It slowly rotated in front of him and moved up and down with a steady rythm. Ray lost his cowardice and opened his mouth. He was now only amazed. Even after years of working on his father's farm, he had seen nothing like this. Ray raised his hand. I have to touch it, he thought. As he moved his hand toward it, it falshed and disappeared with a sound like booming thunder. Emily woke up suddenly. Did she just hear a loud noise? Or was it a bad dream? Her throat was dry and she was frightened. Through the wall, she heard her Mommy's soft breathing. Emily had no idea of where her father had gone. She didn't really care where he was. As long as he's not here,she thought. She hopped out of bed, walked out of her bedroom and went quietly down the stairs. "Daddy?" she called out. Emily listened for an answer. She heard nothing. She walked into the living room and looked around. Nothing was wrong that she could see. " Daddy?" she called again, louder this time. Again there was no answer. Emily turned and headed toward the kitchen. She looked around. She saw papers on the table. On one of them, her mommy's firstname was written. Other than a chair pulled out from the table, the room was kept tidy. Then Emily noticed the strange smell in the room. It almost smelled like...burning. Emily didn't think it was there when Mommy sent her to bed. What was it? It was very unpleasant and made her eyes water. She then walked past the table and noticed the figure lying on the ground behind it. "Daddy?" Emily said softly. Chapter 2 January 31,1998 12:20 P.M.J. Edgar Hoover Building Basement A pencil flew from the FBI agent's hands and embedded itself in the ceiling. Special Agent Fox Mulder quickly took another pencil, placed it into the pencil sharpener, cocked back his arm, ready to throw. As the pencil left on its trajectory path towards the ceiling, his partner, Special Agent Dana Scully, opened the dor to the office. The pencil hit the ceiling of he small office at the wrong angle, fell, and bounced off the desk. The office of the HQ of the X-Files, a small branch of the FBI that took cases that dealt with the paranormal, supernatural and alien abduction. These were the cases that the main divisions of the FBI rarely dealt with. Mulder and Scully had been working with each other in the division for almost five years, and each knew the other's personalities, characteristics, and idiosyncracies. "Slow week, Mulder?" Scully asked. She smirked. She stepped over a wastebasket surrounded with crumpled pieces of paper. "Actually, Scully, I was just waiting for you." Mulder took a thin manila folder from a stack of folders just like it on his desk. He opened it and began to read. "At 6:00 this morning, in Higgs, Mississippi, Melissa Steinway, a wife and mother of one, reported the death of her husband to the local police. The sheriff of the town found the body of Raymond Steinway on the floor of the Steinway's kitchen, and I quote, 'burnt to a crisp'." Mulder looked up from the folder to note Scully's reaction, but her look told him that he had better continue reading. "'The kitchen window contained a perfectly round hole in it, like something was drilled,' the sherifff commented." Mulder turned on the projector and motioned towards the picture of the window on it. He then pressed a buton and a picture of the body of Raymond Steinway appeared. His skin, or what was left of it, showed cases of third degree burns. 'Burnt to a crisp', though graphic, described the body perfectly. His hair was now nonexistant. Scully, a medical doctor, had no change of expression to the remains. She had done autopsies on bodies that looked much worse than this. Mulder pressed the button again. A view of the entire kitchen appeared. Nothing was scorched or burnt, much less out of order. "Do I even ask what you think Raymond Steinway died of?" Scully asked. "Don't worry," Mulder replied. " The pictures and data received do show some signs of extraterrestrial abduction, until this next piece of evidence." He pressed the button again, revealing another picture of the kitchen. Apparently, it was no different than the previous one, except for a moved chair. Scully looked confused. " Mulder, I--" "Look at the shadows on the ground. In the first picture you can clearly see the shadow of the moved chair." Saying this, he turned back to the first picture of the kitchen and pointed he shadow out. He then turned back to the second picture. " Now, the chair has been moved back and the chair is on top of its shadow. These two pictures were taken within five minutes of each other." Scully finally understood what Mulder was getting at. " So the shadows were burnt into the ground, which is why the shadow didn't move while the chair did." Mulder nodded. " But what would cause something like that?" Mulder turned back to the picture of the window. " What do you know about ball lightning?" Scully sighed. " What does anyone know about ball lightning? It is one of the world's great unexplained mysteries. Why couldn't this case be explained by just a freak lightning occurance?" Scully regretted the question as soon as she had asked it. Mulder smiled. " Why, thanks for asking. First of all, lightning usually doesn't pick its victims. If lightning is going to fry a man, it's going to fry some of the things around him. Secondly, notice the circle in the window. Ball lightning has been known to cut holes in things that it passes through. Thirdly, the burnt shadows on the ground are called shadowgraphs. After the bombing of Hiroshima, these shadowgraphs were seen in abundance near many of the bombing's victims. They have also been known to appear after a lightning strike. They don't usually appear inside. Finally, Ray Steinway was standing in the middle of a kitchen away from any form of electrical appliance or outlet. Lightning needs a conductor. Ball lightning doesn't." "Mulder, you're crazy!" Scully was appalled. " We're going down to Mississippi to scout for ball lightning even though chances are astronomical that it would appear again in the vicinity! What are we going to do, Mulder? Arrest a natural phenomenon?" Scully sighed. " Mulder, is there some reason that the F.B.I. is taking this case and not a group of meteorologists?" "Acutally, yes." Mulder returned to the kitchen slide one last time. He pointed to the shadow that Raymond Steinway had left. " This is Mr. Steinway's hadow. He was found lying on top of it, which meant that he fell backwards, assuming that he was standing at the time of death." He pointed to another shadow, human like in appearance, on the ground at the door to the kitchen, almost seven feet away from Steinway's shadow. "This shadow cannot be matched to anyone at the crime scene." "What makes you think that is it a human shadow?" Scully said. " And even if it is, couldn't it have been a policeman? Couldn't he have been standing in the doorway at the time this picture was taken?" "The shadow matches with all the other shadows in the room. They are all facing the way they would be facing under a ceiling light at 9:30 P.M." "Then could it have been the wife or the daughter?" "The wife was reported asleep at the time, and the daughter didn't find the body until later on that night." Scully saw where Mulder was going with this conversation, and she didn't like it. " Fine, who is it then?" she asked, with more thn a slight bit of sarcasm in her voice. Mulder smiled. " Well, Scully, that's what we're going to find out." He handed Scully the plane ticket and started towards the door of the office. He motioned for Scully to follow. " There's already a meteorological group down there. We should make it there before the day is over," he said, and walked out the door. Scully sighed and followed, closing the door behind her. Chapter 3 Janury 31,1998 7:20 P.M. A cold wind blew past the yellow police line that surrounded the Steinway residence. A police car, lights still flashing, sat in front of the farmhouse. Next to the police car sat a large, white van with a satelltie dish on top. A rental car drove down the road and stopped in front of the police line. Mulder looked at the house. It was in need of some paint, and it was missing a few boards, but it was no different than any other house in Higgs, Mississippi, a small town with a population of less than a thousand. Two cops stood outside the house, arguing. Muledr stepped out of the car and flashed his badge, although night had fallen an they hadn't noticed him. Mulder cleared his throat as Scully moved towards him. "Excuse me," Mulder said. The two cops stopped talking and turned to them. The shorter one walked toward the agents. "Can we help you?" "My name is Special Agent Fox Mulder and this is my partner, Agent Scully. We're here to investigate the death of Raymond Steinway." The short cop grunted. "Is this something that the FBI usually takes under their wing?" "Nope." The cop lifted the police line up so that they could walk underneath it. Mulder and Scully followed the cops into the farmhouse and through a small living room. They stopped in the kitchen. The body had been removed from the room. Papers cluttered the desk. The shorter cop turned around and introduced himself. "I'm Sergeant Hank Garney and this is Officer Bill Packton. We are from the neighboring town, Turnersville. Since Higgs doesn't have a substantial population, Turnersville is in charge of both towns. So what do you think could have caused the death?" Mulder answered for both of them. " We believe that the death may have been caused by a friek weather occurance known as--" "Ball lightning?" Officer Packton said, cutting Mulder off. Garney nodded in agreement. Both Mulder and Scully looked impressed. " Has there been an instance of ball lightning in the town before?" Scully asked. Paxton thought for a minute. " Not that I know of. It's just that the scientist who came before you two said the same thing." As the cop finished their introduction, two scruffy-looking gentlemen came down the stairs and into the kitchen. They both wore NICAP baseball caps, like the one Max Fenig wore. They looked like they were friends of the Lone Gunmen. They noticed the two F.B.I. agents and stopped. One raised his hand. " I'm Scott Welsley and this behind me is Ben Armstrong. We work in the Meteorological Phenomenon section for the National Investigative--" "--Committee for Aerial Phenomenon. I know the committee. I worked with a man named Max Fenig. Did you know him?" The two meteorologists exchanged glances. Welsley began to speak. He was tall, had a heavy metal T-shirt and wore jeans with holes in them. " Did we know him? He's practically a legend at headquarters now. If you knew Max, then you must be Fox Mulder and Dana Scully." Welsley stopped and stared at Scully. " You're even prettier than he said you were." Scully did not know how to respond to this statement. She just smiled. Mulder felt that they needed to get down to business. " Anyway, how learned are you two in the area of ball lightning?" "Nobody's really learned in the area of ball lightning," Armstrong said. He was a thin man with shoulder-length hair. " Nobody's even proved the existence of it. Some scientists still believe that ball lightning is an optical illusion that one sees when there are dust particles in the air. But we have pictures." Mulder's interest was greatly increased. Armstrong pulled a backpack off his shoulder and opened it. He took two photos out and put the bag down. He handed them to Mulder, who took them happily. The photos showed a green ball of light floating by a lake. It was about a meter in diameter and lighted up the immediate area. Armstrong reached into his bag again and pulled a handful of pictures out, handing them to Mulder again. These showed the same ball, but it was changing positions. Then, one picture showed a flash of green light. The last showed nothing but the lake. Mulder handed them to Scully. "These were taken in Utah," Welsley said to Mulder. " We had been camping in the area for a month after we had heard of a sighting of ball lightning there. Sometimes you just get lucky, I guess." Armstrong nodded in agreement. "I guess so," Mulder replied. Scully shook her head at the pictures, and when she was done, she handed them to the two cops to see. "Anyway, there are many different theories as to what ball lightning really is," Armstrong said. " Some believe it is a form of plasma that somehow retains a sphere-like shape. Another is that they are atmospheric life-forms, which are believed to be round slimy objects that preside in the upper atmosphere. Atmospheric life-forms might explain U.F.O. sightings. I don't know what you know about U.F.O.s, but--" Mulder looked at Scully and smiled. " Anyway, we noticed the shadowgraphs on the pictures that were sent to us. And the round hole in the window." The cops and the meteorologists nodded. Mulder surveyed the kitchen. The shadowgraphs covered parts of the floor. There was a small table in the center of the room, cluttered with papers. Mulder picked them up and shuffled through them. He noticed their purpose and the half-written signature on them. He then handed them to Scully. " Doesn't look like Melissa Steinway will be needing those anymore," Mulder said. Garney nodded. "We've picked Ray up before for domestic disputes," he said. " Once when Melissa sprained her arm and once when she was given a black eye. Both times she denied that Ray had been hitting her, and we sent him home reluctantly. We knew the truth, but we couldn't hold him there." "What about the daughter?" Scully asked. "Far as I know, he never touched her," Paxton said. "Has anybody spoken to the wife and daughter yet?" Scully interrupted. "They have made their statement and are right now at a motel in Turnersville," Garney said. " Ray Steinway's body was also brought to Turnersville. It's in the morgue." Mulder bent down to examine the shadow once owned by a living Ray Steinway. Scully bent down next to him. " Notice the amount of detail in the shadow," Scully said. Mulder nodded. You can see every hair follacle on his arms, though he probably now has as much hair on his arms as he does skin." "This probably means that the shadowgraph was formed the second the blast hit the room," Scully said. "Shadowgraphs are not uncommon in lightning blasts," Welsley said. " There was a case involving a robin and a sheep that were both struck by lightning. The bird dropped dead onto the dead sheep below. Later, officials found a shadowgraph on the sheep's skin that was so detailed, you could see every feather on its side. When they cut it open, the shadowgraph was on both sides of the sheepskin." "We can use this information to identify the other shadow," Mulder said. He moved over to the as yet unrecognizable shadow. " The shadow appears to be a woman, with shoulder-length hair and no shoes. She is wearing either a long dress or a night gown." Mulder looked up and exchanged glances with Scully. "Mulder, I don't understand how the lightning could kill one person in the room, and leave the other unharmed," Scully said. "That's one of the mysteries of ball lightning. There's cases reported all the time of animals being killed by ball lightning," Mulder answered. " There was a case once where a boy and girl were playing in a barn when what they reported as a red sphere entered the barn. The boy and girl watched in amazement as it came closer to them. The boy kicked the sphere, causing it to explode. Every cow was killed in the barn, but the boy and girl were left virtually untouched." "I've heard that story too," Scully said. She rolled her eyes. "What makes you think it was a story?" Armstrong said, joining the conversation. " That story was actually documented by NICAP." Mulder took a tape measure from his coat pocket and measured the shadow. "Proportionately, the shadow's owner is between 4'0 and 4'6 feet tall." "So we're either looking for a female midget or a young girl." Scully smiled. "So you think Emily Steinway was standing here at the time of the blast?" Paxton asked. " Why would she lie in her statement?" "She stood there while she watched her father die," Scully said. " I'd be pretty shocked if I saw my father being burnt like a marshmallow." "I guess our next move would be to interrogate the Steinways," Mulder said. " There may be something they're not telling us." The two cops gave the agents the location and directions to the motel where the Steinways were staying, then nodded to the group and headed towards their car. The meteorologists shook hands moved farther into the kitchen to take samples of the window, leaving Mulder and Scully alone in the living room. "Mulder, you don't actually believe those are authentic pictures of ball lightning, do you?" Scully said. She looked at him tiredly. "Scully, you're a scientist. Why is it so hard to believe that there is something in the world that hasn't been explained?" "Mulder, I didn't say that. I never denied the ex istence of ball lightning. I just find it hard to believe that two people searching for ball lightning actually found it. Don't you find it a bit odd?" "Scully, you saw the pictures." "Yes, but...Mulder, if we were on a case searching for UFO's, and someone showed you the same pictures, what would you think they were of?" "...Ball lightning?" Scully sighed. " Mulder, you're impossible." Mulder smiled. " Here's the plan, Scully. Let's head to Turnersville. You do an autopsy on the body of Ray Steinway. I'll go speak with Melissa and Emily Steinway. OK?" "Mulder, what are we searching for?" "I'll know it when I see it, Scully. I'll know it when I see it." Chapter 4 January 31,1998 8:10 P.M. To say that Turnersville and Higgs were neighboring towns would be an exaggeration. The two towns were separated by more than ten miles of swampland and deciduos areas. A full moon hung in the sky. It's like something out of a horror movie, Mulder thought as a hawk screeched overhead, creating a much unwanted, and unneeded, special effect. The car ride between the towns was fairly silent. The car pulled into the Stonewall Jackson Motor Lodge and parked. The motor lodge was like dozens that Mulder and Scully had slept in. It was a row of drab, ugly rooms with plain wallpapering and most likely a Magic Fingers (one which Muledr would most likely take advantage of). Mulder and Scully walked into the leftmost building that served as the manager's office. A balding man, probably in his late fifties, sat reading a magazine in a chair behind a small desk. Scully cleared her throat to get the manager's attention. The manager didn't acknowledge that they were standing behind him, or even flinch. He was obviously engrossed in his magazine, which Mulder could only guess the nature of. He walked towards the small desk, which was covered with papers, book and magazines (His desk is even worse than mine, Mulder thought), and slammed hhis hand down on the desk bell. The manager almost fell back in his chair, but then caught his balance and swiveled around. "Can I help you?" he asked in a rough angry voice, quickly hiding the magazine under a stack of National Inquisitors. "We'd like two single rooms, if they're available," Scully said, less than amused. The manager chuckled to himself. " If they're available? The're always available." He took Mulder's credit card and gave them each a key. " Your rooms are the second and third from this building." "Thanks," Mulder said. " Just one question." The manager frowned. " Shoot." "Are the Steinway's staying here?" "Yup. Room 11. Hey, didja hear about--" "Yeah. Thanks,' Mulder said, and the agents headed for the door. Scully paused to look at the cover of the National Inquisitor on the top of the pile of the manager's desk. It read 'Living Lightning Found in Mississippi'. Scully frowned and hurried to catch up with her partner. Melissa Steinway hopped out of the shower and threw on some clothes. She moved into the bedroom of the small motel room and noticed Emily on the bed, sound asleep. She sighed. It had been a tough day. Cops had come in and out of their home, taking Ray's body with them... She wished many things upon Ray, but she didn't really mean any of it. Never in a million years would she wish death on anyone, no matter what they had done to her or Emily. Especially not in the way that Ray had died. She wondered what had happened that night. Now she really was on her own, not by choice. In a way, this was as much a blessing as it was a tragedy. Now she and Emily had the chance to start over, to begin a new life. They could move north, and she could get a new job. Maybe she could even go to college. Sure, it might be years away, butHer dreams were interrupted by a knock at the motel room door. Mulder and Scully had gone to their separate rooms, which were right next to each other. Scully reviewed her case files and Mulder placed a few quarters into the Magic Fingers. They met each other fifteen minutes later in front of the motel, then found the Steinway's room. Scully knocked on the door. A medium-sized woman with brown hair and blue eyes opened it. She might once have been beautiful, but now her face was bruised and beaten. She had the look of someone who had had more than their share of tragedy, a look that Mulder and Scully had seen before. "Can I help you?" the woman asked, brushing hair off her face. "Are you Melissa Steinway?" Scully asked. "Yes." Both agents held up their badges simultaneously. " I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder and this Agent Dana Scully. We're with the FBI. We'd like to ask you a couple of questions." Melissa hesitated and her eyes dropped to the floor. " I've told everything I know to the police. Neither I or my daughter was there to see Ray die. Please go away." She turned to leave, but was stopped by Scully's voice. We have reason to believe that your daughter was watching that night." Melissa turned back around. " On what do you base your assumptions?" she asked, with a touch of hate in her voice. Mulder answered her question, explaining the shadow on the ground. "How dare you accuse my daughter of lying. Her father was just killed!" A tear fell from Melissa's eye and traveled down her cheek. "We're not accusing your daughter of anything," Scully replied. " We'd just like to ask her a few questions." "No," Melisa pleaded. " Go away. Please." The door shut quietly and the agents walked away. Emily watched as the man and the woman talked to her mother. She wondered why they had to make er so upset. An anger boiled inside her as her mother shouted at the uniformed people. Her mother shut the door and turned around. Emily quickly squeezed her eyes shut and pretended to go to sleep. Chapter 5 January 31,1998 9:25 P.M. Scully was escorted to the Turnersville County Morgue by the two policemen. The morgue was attached to a small hospital. It was located at the end of a long, dark hall, like many morgues that Scully had worked in. The ceiling lights flickered as Officer Paxton flipped the switch. The dim light revealed a room with a bout three metal freezers lined up on each of the side walls. Dispersed among the walls were about fifteen metal containers. Scully wondered why such a small and unpopulated county would need so many containers. Then again, some better questions were left unasked. Two metal tables sat in the center of the room. On the back wall there was an office door with a window. Scully could see a middle-aged woman busily filling out forms. Paxton knocked on the door, acknowledging that they were there. The woman turned, smiled warmly, stood and opened the door. "Agent Scully, this is Dr. Beatrice McAllen. She's the chief medical examiner for Turnersville," Garney said. Dr. McAllen smiled and shook Scully's hand. She was at least two inches shorter than Scully, which was rare considering Scully's short stature. She had shoulder-length black hair and thin-rimmed glasses. As she spoke, she continually pushed them back up her nose. " I don't think I have to ask why you're here, Agent Scully. Follow me, please." Dr. McAllen walked toward a row of body containers on the left wall and picked one. She opened it. Inside was a black bag, which she unzipped. The body of Raymond Steinway was resting inside. The first thing that Scully noticed, however, was the horrid smell. She turned herhead a way for a moment, then turned back. The two policemen had to leave the room. The body was charred beyond recognition. Ray STeinway had the look of sheer horror on his face, or what was left of it. All muscles had been locked in their last position, which looked asthough he was reaching out to touch something. This is awful, Scully thought. Dr. McAllen noded as if she knew what Scully was thinking, which she probably did. Dr. McAllen had helped her lift the body out onto a medical table and then went home for the night. It's just you and me, Scully thought as she positioned the autopsy tools on a cart near the table. She took a tape recorder and pressed the record button. "Raymond Steinway. Case #204-132-645. Special Agent Fox Mulder and Dana Scully field investigators. Weight of subject is 122 pounds and the subject is seventy inches in length. There appears to be only two layers of epidermis left on the bod, and the skin remaining shows cases of second and third-degree burns. The cause of death is extreme electrocution on January 30, 1998 at 9:45 P.M. The subject has been in a state of decomposition for just about..." Scully took a seond to look at her watch. " Actually, just about twenty-four hours. The body shows that it is in a stable rate of decomposition." Scully took a marker and made a dotted line around the cranium. She then took a scalpel and cut along this line. " The cranium appears to be of normal size and weight. The brain shows signs of electrocution the frontal lobes." She then made a cut that resembled a "Y" down the center of Mr. Steinway' chest and stopped before the hip bone. She then examined the internal organs. "The subject's heart shows signs of oxygen loss. It appears to have burst open, probably during or after the time of death. A black streak down the middle of the internal chest suggests itself to be a shadowgraph imprinted on the body at the time of death..." She continued with the autopsy, weighing every organ and finding them all weighing slightly less than what they should, which matched with what she knew about extreme electrocution deaths. She sighed and placed the body back in its metal container. Scully then turned out the lights and walked out the door. As she walked out of the hospital to the rental car, her cell phone rang. She flipped it out of her coat pocket and flipped it open. "Sculy," she said. "Scully, it's me," she heard Mulder say. "Something come up?" she asked. "Well actually, something came down. There's been another murder." Scully was about to tell Mulder that they weren't investigating murders, but she decided that there would be no point. " You'd better get back to the motel right away," Mulder added. "Someone died at the motel?" Scully asked in surprise. " I'll be right there." Scully turned off her cell phone and ran to her car. Chapter 6 January 31,1998 10:32 P.M. Scully parked the car and walked over to the manager's office, where Mulder stood, talking to the two police officers. The meteorologists' van was there also, so Scully inferred that the person had died the same way that Ray Steinway had. "Mulder, who died?" she asked. "The manager of the motel. A Mr..." Mulder looked down at a clipboard. "Mr...get this...Stonewall Jackson!" Mulder and Scully exchanged glances, and then Mulder continued on. "...age 57...no family. Mr. Jackson was apparently reading a magazine when ball lightning came through the door and electrocuted him." Mulder pointed out the perfectly round hole in the manager's door. They entered the office and moved over to the desk. An adult magazine lay on the floor next to the desk. Scully looked at Mulder. "Hey whatcha lookin' at me for?" Mulder asked innocently. The two agents moved behind the desk. The body of Mr. Jackson lay on the floor, covered with a tarp. Scully knelt and lifted it up. The extensiveness of the burns on Mr. Jackson's body didn't even come close to the burns that Raymond Steinway had accumulated. At first glance, Scully thought that he looked like he had stuck his finger in a light socket. "Are you sure that Mr. Jackson wasn't killed by some other electrical means?" "I wouldn't believe it either, Scully, if I hadn't seen it myself," Mulder said. Scully rolled her eyes. " Mulder..." "No, Scully. I really did! I opened my motel door to get some ice from the ice machine when I saw this nlue sphere come down from the sky over there." He gestured over to the far side of the parking lot. " It zig-zagged its way over to this spot and I saw a flash of light. I discovered the body, Scully." "Mulder, you may have seen something that your mind turned into ball lightning, but you're just seeing what you want to see." "Then how would you explain these shadowgraphs?" Mulder pointed to the black streaks all around the room. " And then there's this one." He moved over to the doorway of the office. On the ground was a shadow that resembled a small girl standing in the doorway. "Is that what I think it is?" Scully asked. She knew the answer. Mulder nodded. " I think we had better ask a few more questions of the Steinways." Melissa was startled by yet another knock at the door. She sighed and opened it again. Behind it stood the FBI agents that had stood there an hour or more before. " What now?" she asked and frowned. "We'd like to ask your daughter a few questions," Mulder said. " We have reason to believe that she witnessed the death of Mr. Jackson." "What the hell are you talking about?" Melissa asked, her voice becoming hoarse with grief. " I've been with her the whole night, except for a few minute for a smoke outside." Mulder and Scully exchanged glances. This seemed to be the look of the day between the two. " How convenient," Mulder whispered, a little too loud. "Get the hell out of here!" Melissa screamed. " I don't want you pokin' round here no longer. You hear?" Her southern accent became more defined and her grammar became worse. " You don't come in here and blame my daughter for something she had no control over. It wasn't her fault!" Melissa slammed the door and Mulder and Scully had no choice but to turn away. "What do you think, Mulder?" "There was something with how she talked about her daughter." Mulder thought for a moment. "What do you mean?" "It was almost as if she knew something. It was almost as if..." "As if what, Mulder?" Scully knew that look. "As if Emily Steinway was causing it somehow." "Mulder, that's absurd. This isn't a Darren Peter Oswald we're talking about. We're talking about a natural phenomenon, albeit rare, that lies beyond human control." "Scully, it also lies beyond human comprehension. What if Emily could alter the plasma field of the ball lightning? She could then control its path, its effect and most of all, its killing power." Scully blinked. " Mulder, listen to yourself. You're accusing a six-year-old girl of killing two people, one of them her father! What possible motive could she have?" "We have reason to believe that he used physical violence on her and her mother. It might have been some sort of revenge." "But what about the manager?" "Well..." Mulder struggled to think of how the manager fit into his theory. " What if her power was fueled by the hate of another person. The manager might have been unkind, and if this power is something new to her, then that might have been all she needed." Scully laughed. It wasn't the laugh of someone acknowledging that something was funny. It was the laugh of someone fed up with someone else's ideas. Her laugh turned back into a frown. " Then why isn't she going around killing everyone who gives her a cold look?" "Maybe something in her life caused that spark that she needed to put this cpability into progress. She might have gained the power to do this as soon as last night! "And I bet Melissa knows it too." "Mulder, do you even know what you're saying? To have the power to do something like tha would take thousands of kilo--" "Scully..." "What is it?" By now they had walked to the edge of the motel's parking lot. The police cars still sat about 50 yards from them. Both the police and the two meteorologists had moved inside to take samples of Mr. Jackson's body. Behind them were miles and miles of swamp land. But what caught Mulder's attention was not something of the surrounding area. It was Scully's hair. Mulder watched as Scully's shoulder length red hair slowly raised up and pointed at the night sky. He looked up at the clouds overhead. A raindrop fell and landed on the pavement. He took a sniff and recieved a whiff of o-zone. Suddenly he knew what was going to happen. "Run." Chapter 7 January 31,1998 11:01 P.M. A small blue sphere slowly dropped from a cloud and fell to the pavement. That was the agents' cue. They darted into the thick forest, not caring what lay in the swamp. They only knew one thing. The blue sphere was coming after them. Emily leaned against the door of the motel as the sphere dropped from the sky, then slowly started to follow it as if by a magnetic attraction. She watched as it followed the two FBI agents into the swamp. If the ball of energy didn't get them, the swamp would. She smiled. The blue sphere was after them. Scully wasn't sure if this proved Mulder's theory or not, but one thing was clear. The ball of lightning was after them! She had heard of ball lightning being attracted to animate objects, but this was ridiculous! And she wasn't about to take the chance that this was all mere coincidence. She ran harder. Mulder both was and wasn't prepared for this at the same time. He had had a plan, but it seemed to slip his mind as soon as the blue sphere dropped from the sky. He wondered if Raymond Steinway and Stonewall Jackson had noticed the sheer magnificence of the sphere before they were fried like chicken Mcnuggets. He decided that didn't matter right now. He had time to think about it later. Or at least he thought he would have time. Now he had to put his plan, which had slipped back into his mind as easily as it had slipped out, into action. He called to Scully who was running beside him. "Scully, you go left and I'll run right." Although she was running hard and fast, she managed to nod and veered to the left. Mulder went to theright and could only hope that his plan would work. The ball of lightning stopped and decided which way to go. Emily was right behind it, deciding for it. She decided that the male FBI agent was the more important to follow. Scully looked behind her and noticed that the ball had broken in half. Not only that, but it was getting smaller. It slowed down and fizzled out. Scully breathed a sigh of relief. But Mulder might not be having the same good luck. As that thought went through her head, it started to rain. Mulder, however, was not having the same good luck. Although the blue sphere had broken in half, it was now growing back to its original size and was speeding up. Mulder was tiring and slowing down. He realized that this was the end. It was over and he was not the victor. As he stepped out of the swamp and into a small clearing, the clouds rushed in overhead and it started to rain. He came to a complete stop in the middle of the field and drew his gun, somehow knowing that it would do no good against the ball of lightning and that he was not prepared to shoot the little girl. The ball of lightning came out of the woods after him and stopped also. Following it was Emily Steinway. She came forward and stood five feet behind the ball of lightning. She frowned. "Why, Emily?" he asked, with a touch of sorrow in his voice, but not for himself. Emily looked as if she had had no control over what she had done in the past and what she was about to do. Maybe she never did. " We never meant you any harm, Emily. We just wanted to help you and your mother." "You don't know know me or my mommy!" Emily screamed. The ball lightning became bigger as it pulsed and spinned. It made a dull hissing noise that almost drowned out their conversation. " You don't want to help us! No one wants to help us!" Emily began to cry. "Emily, it's okay." Mulder took a step forward. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" Emily screamed and broke down into heartbreaking sobs. Mulder could feel for her even though it was likely she was going to cause his death. That was when Mulder saw the flash of light. He thought that he was dead for a moment and felt a bunch of mixed emotions towards the girl. He then realized that the blue sphere was still there, the girl was still there, and most importantly, he was still there. Melissa Steinway entered the clearing with a small flashlight. "Emily?" she asked, and then ran over to her daughter. As she embraced Emily, comforting her sobs, the ball of lightning became smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared. Mulder sat down on the wet grass and looked up at the sky. He was lucky to be alive, and he had never before been more grateful. He felt the drops of rain on his face until they slowly tapered off and disappeared also. The clouds rolled away as quickly as they had come in, and a brilliant sky of stars was revealed to him. Have I been looking too far? he asked himself. Have I been looking for intelligent life in other galaxies, when really I should have been looking in our own atmosphere? Scully entered the clearing, soaked to the bone. She moved over to Mulder, who was now lying on the grass. "Mulder, are you alright?" she asked, worried. "Oh, just fine. Just contemplating the wonders of the universe." Melissa was still comforting her daughter in her arms. Fifteen minutes later they all went back to the motel, Mulder and Scully first, and Melissa trailing behind, carrying Emily in her arms. Field Journal of Dana Scully M.D. February 13, 4:56 P.M.
'...Melissa Steinway was allowed custody of her daughter and still is at this present time. Emily has been kept in the custody of Melissa, and no further episode has occured to this date. The powers that Emily Steinway seemed to possess are as of yet unexplained. Testing was done following our investigation into the case, but no evidence to support the theory that she had some sort of control over the natural phenomenon of ball lightning has been found. Agent Mulder's explanation to this was that she had lost the power as quickly as she had gained it, probably due to overexhaustion. Agent Mulder also believes that mily's powers were caused by some natural instinct of a love between a mother and her daughter rather than hate. The deaths were brought out because Emily felt that Melissa Steinway was being threatened, which led to the attack on us. I do see how Mulder can come to this assumption. This is what any human being, supernatural powers or not, would be willing to believe. I do not, however, feel that Agent Mulder's explanation falls under the roof of scientific theory, much less scientific fact. I believe that the evidence received cannot create a hypothesis, and therefore the case must remain unsolved until a further date..." The End
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