[ Crewmen Shouting Boisterously ]
[ Sportscast Continues In Background ]
[ Muttering Softly ]
- [ Man ] Let's go! - [ Man #2 ] Let's go.
[ Man #3 ] All right.
[ Crewmen Groaning ]
- [ Men Cheering ] - [ Chuckles ]
You boys eat your vegetables or I'll do the same to you.
[ All Laughing ]
Hot meat, senor.
[ Sportscaster ] He knocked the goal-tender down. Can you believe that?
[ Sportscast Continues In Background ]
[ Radio Static ]
[ Garbled Radio Transmission ]
Hey, amigo.
[ American Accent ] Que paso esta noche?
How's the roast beef?
Uh, Como esta el carne?
Bueno...
o malo?
[ Crewmen Cheering ]
Come on!
Where's our illustrious communications offiicer?
Hey, Ed. What gives with the—
What the hell are you doing?
That's enough!
Ed.
Oh, man.
Now you've gone and done it.
Dejame!
No, no, no.
No, no, no, no!
[ Screaming ]
Am I interrupting anything, Agent Mulder?
Nothing you'd be too terribly interested in, Agent Doggett.
[ Drops Keys On Table ]
Agent Mulder, what are you doing down here?
I'm looking into the recent death of an oil worker.
Yeah, I got a heads-up on it from you a couple of days ago.
That's what I'm doing here.
Agent Mulder, I understand that you had more than just a proprietary interest...
in these cases, but I can't help it...
if you're not assigned to this unit anymore.
I didn't see any reason to pursue this oil worker case.
Well, maybe you missed the fact that this victim's corpse...
washed ashore at PortAransas, Texas.
Massive flash burns on 90 percent of his body.
I read the report, Agent Mulder, if you're insinuating I didn't.
Then you must also know that this man was not the only man...
to disappear from the Galpex-Orpheus platform that night, but one of two men.
The communications offiicer is also missing.
The company attributes that to an explosion on the rig— a"blowout"--
which is what they say caused Simon de la Cruz's burns.
Burns the M.E. said in his report were not inconsistent...
to exposure to high levels of radiation.
"Not inconsistent." That's not exactly what I'd call a ringing endorsement.
These fiiles include the same kind of radiation phenomena.
- Tissue destroyed by exposure to— - Black oil.
Five years ago you and Agent Scully investigated a case of a World War II plane...
salvaged from the bottom of the Pacifiic Ocean...
where a substance was brought to the surface...
which you describe as a highly contagious virus...
of extraterrestrial origin that has radioactive properties...
and can take over a man's body and is part of an alien conspiracy...
to colonize the planet, if I'm not mistaken.
And you'd love to help, but you left your light saber at home.
How'd you get stuck down here, Agent Doggett?
Kersh catch you peeing in his corn flakes?
[ Phone Rings ]
John Doggett.
[ Scully ] The Deputy Director is waiting, Agent Doggett.
Yeah, I was just on my way up.
Why didn't you tell me that you were pursuing this Texas oil worker case?
- Because I'm not. - Well, there's an exec here from the oil company...
who says that he was contacted by a man in our offiice.
No, that'd be Agent Mulder.
What are you talking about?
I'm going to let him answer that.
Just like old times.
Now it's all making sense.
Tough crowd.
Mr. Ortega...
this is Special Agent Fox Mulder...
the person you spoke to on the phone, I believe.
Mr. Ortega is Vice President of Operations...
for Galpex Petroleum out of Galveston, Texas.
I believe we did speak, yeah.
[ Kersh ] There's also confusion about who spoke to certain...
government offiicials who seem to think...
the FBI is running an investigation into the accident.
That would've been me as well, sir...
and that was in the best interests of the FBI and Mr. Ortega, I believe.
[ Kersh ] Mr. Ortega would beg to differ.
As would I.
[ Ortega ] You've complicated an already sensitive situation, Agent Mulder.
Galpex Petroleum has discovered what we think may be...
a massive new oil province beneath the Gulf of Mexico—
one that would give a huge advantage...
fiinancially and politically to whoever gets to drill it.
- Who else are we talking about? - U.S. territorial waters cover the northern half of the Gulf.
Our wells are on our side...
but the fiield may spread well to the south.
The government of Mexico could claim it's theirs.
This incident has nothing to do with that whatsoever.
It's about the unexplained death of Simon de la Cruz.
Simon de la Cruz was a Mexican national...
killed in a U.S. business enterprise.
They'd like nothing better than to use his death...
to get us to abandon the Orpheus rig...
so they can be the fiirst to drill the province.
Leaving me no choice now but to conduct a criminal investigation...
quickly and quietly to take away any legal position...
that would affect American interests.
A criminal investigation is not going to clear up anything.
You've done more than enough, Agent Mulder, thank you.
I don't think you know exactly what you're dealing with here, sir.
- No, I think I do, Agent. - This is an X-File.
And I'm sending someone from the X-Files to investigate.
You're talking about an oil rig that's 150 miles out at sea.
- You can't send a pregnant woman. - I'm not sending Agent Scully.
Yuri Volkoff, your new communications specialist.
- You bring your new gear? - Yes, it's in there.
- John Doggett, Special Agent. - Who?
- From the Bureau. - FBI, you say?
Yeah. Someone told you I was coming, I hope.
No, just the new comm equipment.
You got radio problems?
No one told you about me coming?
We still got ship-to-shore.
But when they gave us the message, it said just one agent was coming.
Right. I'm the one agent.
Well, then, who's the guy that got here this morning?
The one in talking with our crew chief right now?
Agent Mulder.
- Can I have a word with you? - Will you give me a minute?
I'm just getting fiilled in on the details of this investigation.
Why don't you pull up a seat and introduce yourself...
and Mr. Taylor won't have to repeat himself.
Bo Taylor.
I was on deck watch the night this thing went down.
Go on, Mr. Taylor.
Men can go off the deep end out here.
It's like a cabin fever of sorts.
They're hundreds of miles away from their family and their friends...
six weeks at a stretch.
Some of them might just as well be doing hard time.
So how's that fiigure with the victim, Simon de la Cruz?
Well, mestizos are usually the most reliable men I know...
on the drill floor.
But Simon just lost his nut, I guess.
It's the only good explanation.
Simon de la Cruz's body was found with flash burns.
What's that got to do with him going off the deep end?
Well, hell, he tried to blow the whole damn rig.
I mean, it was sabotage pure and simple.
He knocked the cock off a gas valve and he must've sparked it...
because it went faster than a Friday paycheck.
- What about the second victim? - Communications chief, wasn't he?
Probably never knew what hit him.
What's the communications chief doing on the drilling floor?
A man can die out here, sir, just going for a walk.
Probably what happened when it blew.
Nobody even knew he was gone...
till the shift change.
Well, I guess that's it— in a nutshell.
Thank you, Mr. Taylor.
Agent Mulder.
[ Doggett ] Agent Mulder!
Don't walk away when I'm talking to you.
Like it or not, I've been assigned this case.
One call to the Deputy Director and you're canned for insubordination.
How're you going to call when the radio's broken?
Hey, don't push me, Agent Mulder.
- You won't do it. - You think?
We're both in the same boat, Agent Doggett...
we're just paddling in different directions.
No, we're not going in different directions here.
We're going in one direction: my direction.
I don't think Kersh expects you to come back empty-handed on this one.
And since you've already told me what you think about this case in so many words...
I don't see you coming back with anything...
that's going to protect anybody's business interests...
let alone your own ass.
Wow, you really got me pegged.
Anything that doesn't fiit in my narrow fiield of vision...
might as well not exist, is that right, Agent Mulder?
So why is this man Taylor lying? You do know he's lying?
I think he knows the truth about what happened.
And he may not be the only one.
I never would've believed it, these stories about you.
Really? What stories are those?
That you could fiind a conspiracy at a church picnic.
What church?
- Agent Scully? - Close the door and lock it.
- You said you wanted to see me right away. - I didn't know who to talk to...
- and I haven't been able to reach Agent Mulder. - About what?
About what I found in my autopsy of the oil rig accident victim Simon de la Cruz.
Agent Scully, this man's body was supposed to be...
transported back to Mexico completely intact.
I found it by accident in the third ventricle of his brain.
- Agent Scully— - No, it's okay, it's all right.
What do you mean? I was under the impression this stuff...
could literally jump into a man's body.
No, it can, and I've seen that happen, but that's the thing.
I mean, this man was clearly infected by the alien virus.
It entered his system and it was massing in the pineal gland.
But it's dead.
What killed it?
Well, intuitively, you would say the same thing that killed him:
exposure to high levels of radiation.
But it makes no sense because the virus itself has radioactive properties.
Somebody needs to tell Agent Doggett that.
He needs to have an idea of what he's dealing with.
No, you need to tell Deputy Director Kersh that he has to order...
a controlled evacuation of that rig, right now.
Don't ask me to go to Kersh with this evidence...
telling him to order an evacuation for something you can't even explain.
If the virus is loose, Agent Doggett's life is in danger.
We don't know that for sure.
There are nearly two dozen men on that rig and not one other case. Why?
[ High-pitched Static ]
Hey, Yuri.
Heard you had some problems with the radio.
New gear's all on-line, working fiine.
Only there's some sort of high-frequency interference...
that I have no idea how to get rid of.
Hear that?
That's a signal that's coming in and fiiltering in...
across a large range of channels.
You know, I don't think I have any choice but to power down and restart.
No.
You can't do that.
I hate to argue with you.
[Woman ] This is the Marine Operator for Galpex-Orpheus.
Come in, Orpheus.
Galpex-Orpheus, I have a priority transmission.
Repeat, this is a priority transmission.
This is Orpheus, go ahead.
Orpheus?
I've been trying to reach you for hours.
This is Special Agent Dana Scully.
I have an urgent message for an investigative agent on board...
an agent John Doggett.
I'm ready to take that message.
No, I'm sorry. I need to speak with Agent Doggett directly.
I got it.
I'm sorry, Agent Doggett's gone fiishing.
Can I take a message, please?
Mulder?
I was just in the neighborhood.
Mulder, you can't just flout orders like this.
It's not like old times. Kersh isn't going to tolerate this.
- Kersh doesn't need to know. - Mulder—
You need me out here, Scully. You know that better than anyone.
Well, I hate to say as of this morning, I'd have to agree.
Who's flouting orders? You found something, didn't you, in that victim's body?
- The virus? - Yes, I did...
- and it's dead, Mulder. - Dead?
- What killed it? - Possibly radiation.
No, that's not possible—
I know, I know, and this could be an isolated event...
but that he's infected at all means that everybody out there could be at risk...
and that means you and Agent Doggett.
We've got to quarantine this rig.
No, Mulder, you need to get off the rig.
Have Agent Doggett give the order.
We can quarantine you and the crew when you get back here.
Scully, if these men are infected, the last place we want them...
is on shore where they can infect other people.
You're sitting on the answer right there, Scully.
The body—you fiind the virus, you can fiind what knocks it out, you can fiind what kills it.
And what if I can't?
Well...
when he, uh, gets old enough, you tell the kid I went down swinging.
Let me talk to Agent Doggett.
Agent Doggett's not here right now.
Yes, I am. Who's on the radio?
Who are you talking to?
- Hey! - That was Agent Scully.
- What'd she say? - She said it was lucky that I'm out here.
No, you're lucky I'm letting you stay.
If you've got important information, I better know about it.
I'm in charge out here, Agent Mulder.
All right, then go ahead and take charge.
Only you might not like what it means in this case.
What you're going to have to do with that information you're so anxious to have.
All right, listen up! I'll make this brief.
We've been given an order to quarantine the rig.
[ Startled Murmuring ]
As of 1400 hours, we're offiicially shut down and locked down.
We're going to be stuck here a while.
All flights in and out have been suspended.
- [ Men Shouting And Muttering ] - I know, I know.
We've been asked to cooperate until the FBI is certain everything's shipshape.
Now, for everybody's protection...
we need to all of us cooperate fully.
- Oh, man! - Protection from what?
From a possible contagion.
- Anybody here feel sick? - No!
All right, all right, knock it off!
I need everybody to check their water consumption.
- And we'll be cutting back to half-rations. - [ Men Murmuring ]
I've been going over the crew manifest, Mr. Saksa...
- and there seems to be a problem. - Problem with what?
According to the manifest, there's supposed to be 18 men on board.
I count only 17, including you.
This is my whole crew in here.
Um, Diego Garza. Where's he?
- Who? - A deckhand.
Friend of Simon de la Cruz, the man who tried to sabotage the rig.
- Well, I'll be damned. - What, he's not here?
Any idea where he might be?
Well, he didn't leave the rig. Not by any means I know of.
What do you say we go fiind him?
[ Scully ] This man was exposed to a virus.
And... why do I need to see this?
To understand what your crew may be infected with—
what they risk spreading on or off that rig.
You understand Galpex is eager to cooperate.
But shutting down a producing rig...
costs in the neighborhood of $150,000 a day.
And according to my OIM, no one on that rig is sick.
They're just hungry and tired.
You don't know that for sure.
What symptoms would they be showing? What would we see?
Unexplained behavior. Possible detection in the eyes.
- We've seen none of that. - You're relying on suspect data.
I'm relying on medical reports.
And unless you give me more than this...
I'm calling that Orpheus crew back in.
Bringing them home and rotating a fresh crew onto that rig.
Oh, my God.
[ Door Opens And Closes ]
So what are you hoping to fiind, Agent Mulder, honestly?
I'm hoping to fiind Diego Garza.
Slim chance of that, if you ask me.
The crew boss said it— a man could disappear off this platform...
and no one would even notice.
Did you see that the crew manifest listed Diego Garza as mestizo—
- of mixed Mexican descent— just like his friend who died? - Yeah, so what?
Well, the crew chief said these mestizo were particularly good workers.
Now we've got one dead trying to sabotage the rig...
and another one who's missing.
One of their best workers—you'd think somebody'd notice him missing.
Yeah, so, maybe he's still here.
Maybe he's just waiting to fiinish the job that killed his friend...
to protect Mexican oil interests.
These men are hiding something, but that's not it.
You know, I quarantine a whole damn oil rig...
without any evidence to support what you're saying— not one damn thing.
But you still have yet to give me a straight answer...
as to what you think is going on out here.
Now, if these men are hiding something...
if they're protecting something, then what the hell is it?
- I don't know yet. - Well, when you do, let me know...
'cause I've got to get on the radio to justify this action.
Agent Doggett, I didn't come out here just to bust your ass.
I'm telling you, I've seen this substance.
I've seen how it can take over a man's body.
This crew could be infected and not even know it.
They may have no idea they're being controlled.
This?
This is what you're saying is going to take over my body?
Well, when's it going to kick in?
That's not how it works.
It body jumps from man to man.
And I'm not sure that it's in all oil.
Well, that's a relief, because only 90% of the planet is dependent on the stuff.
The man from Galpex Oil lied.
What? He's infected, too?
No, that new oil province that he wants to protect— it's already in production.
It's being pumped and drilled by this rig. That's how this crew got infected.
You're reaching, Agent Mulder.
Billions and billions of barrels lying right underneath us, waiting to be produced.
Waiting to infect that 90% of the planet you talked about.
These men are hiding something? That'd be something to hide.
But, Agent Doggett...
what if that's why this man is in hiding— Diego Garza—
because he knows what they're up to and he knows what they're up to...
because he's the only one who's not infected with this alien virus?
All right, he knows. Then why doesn't he just come down and tell us?
[ Emergency Buzzer ]
It's the radio room!
I'll fiind another one.
Agent Scully.
- Sir. - You're in a hurry.
To do what?
To continue with my work, sir.
I'm not privy to this..."work."
I thought this body...
would've been well on its way back to Mexico.
[ Door Opens ]
I obviously haven't been able to rely on those...
whose job it is to keep me apprised and informed.
I have to rely on phone calls.
Like the call I received from Martin Ortega.
Why doesn't somebody make me privy...
to who the hell gave the order to shut down that rig?
I did.
Well, I'm giving the order this quarantine is lifted.
We could do that, sir, but all radio contact's been cut off.
As soon as it's reestablished...
I want that rig up and running...
and the entire crew choppered off...
the Galpex-Orpheus and debriefed.
Sir, I think that's a mistake.
I think it'd be a mistake not to, Agent Scully.
And you're running out of mistakes—
both you and the Assistant Director.
If I didn't know better...
I'd say this was a Mulder stunt.
This stuff was all brand-new.
What is it about this room that inspires men to violence?
You think this fiire was set?
- Molotov cocktail, anyone? - [ Sniffs ]
Can I borrow your radio, Mr. Saksa?
Agent Doggett, you there?
Agent Doggett?
Pick up, Agent Doggett. You copy?
[ Groans Softly ]
Agent Doggett?
Come in, Agent Doggett.
Where the hell are you?
[ Speaking Spanish ]
Yeah, my blood's red!
Tranquilo. I don't speak very good Spanish.
Diego?
Tu eres Diego Garza?
You're going too fast. Are you saying you set the fiire?
What are you afraid of?
- Ya vienen! - Vienen?
Vienen."They're coming"?
Who?
Who's coming?
- [ Scully ] I think I've got something. - [ Skinner ] What?
This is an SEM image pulled at random from anonymous donors.
Blood— more specifiically, normal T-cell antibodies.
By comparison...
these are from the blood of the oil rig worker.
T-cells in impossible numbers.
In layman's terms, this victim was a virus-fiighting machine.
- How do you explain that? - Well, there are isolated cultures—
Northern Italy for one— where people are immune to certain diseases—
heart disease in that case— through a genetic mutation.
So this man had what? A kind of genetic immunity to alien virus?
Well, his employment records...
list Mr. Simon de la Cruz as of mixed Mexican ancestry...
when, in fact, he is Huecha Indian.
The Huecha are an indigenous Mexican culture...
that has a rare, undiluted gene pool.
Now, these genes may have an innate immunity to infection.
Okay, so he was immune to the virus.
That's still not what killed him.
- He died from being burned. - No, not burned—
irradiated, because the virus had no effect on him...
and the crew members who were infected by the virus couldn't control him.
So they killed him by irradiating him.
Then why not kill Mulder? Or Agent Doggett?
- Why kill only this man? - This man must've been a threat because of something he knew.
- What? - That I don't know.
So even if we did know...
and were able to get word to them...
it'd put Mulder and Agent Doggett in danger, too, wouldn't it?
Su familia?
La fotografiia? Your family?
You want to get back to them?
I can help you.
Senor... Confiia en mi.
Yo no confiio en nadien.
Great.
You trust no one.
But if you stay here, they will fiind you, just like your friend.
You let me go and we'll get you back home.
You have my word.
Mi promesa.
[Taylor ] Where's Garza?
Where is he?
I'm going to go get Agent Mulder.
Agent Doggett. There's more where that came from.
- You know anything about radios, Agent Doggett? - Yeah, I know a little.
Well, see if what little you know can get that ship-to-shore working.
- To call who? - Anybody who can get us off here before—
- [ Banging On Door ] - Get to work!
[ Banging Continues ]
[ Banging Resumes ]
- Agent Doggett! - I'm working on it!
[ Mulder ] I don't think this door can hold much longer.
[Wagner's"Ride of The Valkyries'Playing ]
- Wagner? - What do you want?
I take it back. It's perfect.
Hold this. Hold it.
[Woman ] This is the marine operator.
I repeat, this is an emergency priority transmission for the Galpex-Orpheus.
Yeah, you got John Doggett on board the Galpex-Orpheus. Come in.
- This is John Doggett. - [ Scully ] Agent Doggett?
Agent Scully, yeah, I'm right here.
- Can you hear me? - Yes!
- [ Banging ] - What was that?
That's someone knocking on the door.
Mulder, listen to me.
I think I know why they killed this man, if not how they killed him.
Right now we got bigger problems. We need a chopper.
We've got choppers on the way.
Tell her all the men here are infected.
She's got to get the word to the choppers not to land on the platform.
Well, how are they supposed to get us?
Well, that issue is rapidly becoming moot!
Agent Scully, listen. There are three men on board here that are not infected—
me, Mulder and a man named Diego Garza, who may be mentally unstable.
Could be why he tried to wreck this radio equipment...
just like his friend, Simon de la Cruz.
He may resist rescue because he believes there men in flying saucers are coming to get him.
Agent Scully, did you get that? Agent Scully? You're breaking up, Agent—
- What the hell are you doing? - Destroying their ability to transmit...
just like Diego and Simon de la Cruz.
- What are you talking about? - I'm talking about contact.
Contact with who? The mothership?
- Agent Doggett, listen. - Now, you just back off.
No, no, no. Listen.
[ Doggett ] Where'd they go?
I don't know, but I don't want to stick around to fiind out.
Let's go, Agent Doggett.
Agent Mulder.
We can't leave him.
- Who? - Diego Garza.
Agent Doggett!
Diego? Diego?
Donde estas?
Diego.
Diego, get up. Come on, let's go.
Is he coming?
No.
[ Helicopter Approaching ]
Galpex-Orpheus, this is Alpha-Baker-X-Ray 46...
requesting permission to land.
Come in, Galpex-Orpheus.
Agent Doggett, I think I know why they let us go.
What?
Agent Mulder, what are you talking about? What's going on?
- They're going to blow the rig. - Who?
Let's go.
- [ Man ] Abandon ship... - What's he saying?
[ Garbled P.A. Broadcast ]
I think he wants us to jump.
[ Doggett ] All right, wait a minute, Agent Mulder.
I'm in charge here. On a two count.
How about a 20 count?
One... two!
[Yelling ]
Where's the fiire, Agent Doggett?
I've been called up to see Deputy Director Kersh...
as have Agent Scully and A.D. Skinner.
I think it's all hitting the fan.
You mean with Galpex Oil?
Word came down that Galpex...
has lost the right to drill that entire Texas oil province.
That oil should stay right where it is.
You should do everything in your power to make sure that it does.
- Me? - [ Phone Ringing ]
That is the deputy director calling to tell you there's no need to see you—
that the blame has been properly assigned...
for what happened out on that platform.
I'm out.
I'm eighty-sixed, Agent Doggett.
What do you mean? You're out of the FBI?
Kersh could barely contain his happiness when he...
stuck it to me.
So you're taking the fall.
- Not for me. - For you, for the X-Files.
You're all the credibility this offiice has left.
You have Kersh's ear and you've seen it now.
Out on that platform, you saw it for yourself.
[ Phone Ringing ]
Answer the phone, Agent Doggett.
You're in charge here now.
[ Child ] I made this.