A Fish Called Krycek Bernice (ex Sarah Bellum) Jung said that every man
has a mermaid inside of him,
As soon as the call came through, Mulder had the entire team together; the helicopter, the car – everybody involved was mobilised within minutes. This was the call he’d been waiting for his entire adult and working life. "Please, please, let it be alive", he whispered urgently under his breath. The young couple hadn’t said if what they had found was a mermaid or a selkie, but they did know that the animal washed up on the beach had been badly injured, either by a shark attack or, more likely, the propellers of a pleasure craft. The aquarium where Mulder worked was getting an increasing number of calls to pick up injured dolphins and other large marine animals. They were trying to put back together the shattered bodies of turtles, and anything else that got in the way of the fun of assholes with fast boats. Two years ago he’d come so close; he'd found the remains of a merman on a beach, though torn to pieces, partially eaten by smaller fish, and barely recognisable. They’d found out a lot about this mysterious species from the skeleton and tissues of the specimen, one of only four found over the past 100 years, but nothing like the information they could gather from a living specimen. A mammalian creature that almost perfectly mimicked the characteristics of fish, rather like the cows that went back into the sea to become whales. The mer-creatures were certainly more fish-like in appearance than dolphins and whales, at least in some areas, yet more human-like than even apes - a wonderful puzzle for many areas of science. Mulder’s sandals flapped loudly against the white sands as he ran down the last dune, too frantic to care when he tripped and rolled the last few feet. The couple who had phoned in their find were hovering near the creature, using a tee shirt to keep it wet, but nevertheless standing well clear of it. These things were rumoured to have drowned many humans during history, although Mulder felt that the humans had probably deserved it for whatever they had been doing to these wonderful animals. He knew all the precautions to take, to avoid spines, to avoid claws and teeth, but the blood splattering across wet sand, plus the creature’s distressed breathing, sent all thoughts of his own safety out of his head. His headlong rush down the beach ended only when he was beside the creature, pulling its head onto his lap, pushing its sharp spines down out of the way so he could pet, soothe, and whisper to it softly. "Hey, you," he spoke as if to any injured animal, "Shhh, everything will be fine. Just stay still and we’ll take good care of you..." one of the creature’s hands came towards him, and he captured the hard, bony fingers between his own before he could be clawed. He could feel warm blood pulsing beneath cold flesh. The pulse was regular, but thready. "You’re going to live, aren’t you! You hang in there. Strong specimen like you, we’ll fix you up and you’ll be just fine..." he stroked the creature’s face and... well, it wasn’t hair. Almost hair, in appearance – a cross between hair and membranous fin – but it was closer to the chitinous material of a bird’s feathers, than either fish or mammal fibres. It carded through his fingers, wrapping around his hand like seaweed. The same with the eyebrows and long dark lashes, which he also caressed with gentle fingers, keeping the animal as calm as he possibly could while the helicopter was brought to his position. "Yeah, you’re gonna live. When they see you, alive and swimming, they’ll stop laughing at me. They all laughed at me, specialising in mer-marine life. They kept saying you were all finally extinct, no more homo-aquarius, but when they see you, you beautiful creature, they’ll eat their words. The new coelacanth. Even the zoo, with their flock of griffins and mated pair of unicorns can’t top a real live merman! We can stop showing Attenborough’s films now!" He tried to keep his excited ramblings to a soothing rumble. "We can get rid of the old blurry films of your species, now people can see the real thing!" The animal was rattling deep in its throat. Mulder ceased his rant, worried that it was a death rattle. But the creature kept making the noise, on and off, and Mulder wiped a thin mucus line away from its mouth, avoiding the sharp teeth, "You’re not choking, are you?" There was no injury near the throat or chest, and he kept massaging and rubbing, keeping the creature as quiet as possible. "Hang on there, fella, you hear that noise? That’s a helicopter. I know it sounds horrible, but it’s going to take you somewhere we can help you." The other team members poured out of the ‘copter and ran down to Mulder, stopping a few feet away at his hand signal. "Approach quietly," he gave them advice he himself had ignored, and they slowly circled the injured animal, wrapping a wet tarpaulin around it, keeping it damp and stopping any unwanted movements. "How did you get here so fast?" the Director asked, flicking her red-dyed hair out of her eyes. "By the time we got the ‘copter loaded and ready..." "I ran." "All the way from the centre?" "Yup, no way was I waiting for this one. He’s still alive. He’s badly injured, but he’s got a good chance." "He’s a beautiful specimen, Mulder." "Sure is. Looks like all the myths about these creatures could be true. Every one I’ve ever seen, either in the flesh or on camera, has been good looking. Do you think it’s genetic, or do they just kill the ugly ones?" "Mulder!" "Sorry, Scully, I’m just over excited," he said, his voice as atonal as ever. "Do you know, this is the first time one of these creatures has ever been taken alive? I wonder where his mate is..." "His mate? What makes you sure he has a mate?" "They are always in pairs. They have a matriarchal society, the females choosing between mated pairs of males to father their offspring. A mature male... he looks to be in his late 20s – they mature at about the same rate as humans – he should have a mate somewhere around here. Another male about his own age most likely. Perhaps he was injured or killed in the same accident..." "Mulder, I don’t need a lecture. He’s loaded on the ‘copter, go with him back to the centre. I’ll walk back and meet you there." -oo0oo- The surgery took the best part of the day. Trying to repair delicate tissues made more difficult by not knowing whether to treat their find as either mammal or fish, trying to sew up hideous wounds on something they had never operated upon before. Further complicated by the accountant leaning in to suggest they do their best to stop scars. A scarred star attraction would not be as popular or profitable. Mulder would have popped the guy, if he hadn’t been so big. Or right. The Aquarium had carried Mulder for years, funding his empty promises that he’d bring in a homo-aquarius for their displays. This was not only his chance to study a merman, it was his obligation to try to recoup some of the centre’s outlay. Of course, the merman probably wouldn’t want scars either. From what he’d been able to gather through his studies, it seemed appearance was their main way of attracting mates. If they wanted to release this one into the wild again sometime, they wanted him as whole and complete as possible. Of course, a release wouldn’t be until the accountants decided they’d made plenty of money out of it. They loaded the merman into a small tank of shallow water. About 10 foot long, one foot deep and one and a half foot wide, it held the merman easily but restricted its movements. Mulder released some of the straps they’d used to hold it during the surgery, but left its hands in leather mittens that he clipped to one side of the tank, holding the animal on its side. The animal was too weak to fight, but sharp claws like that could disembowel a fully grown man, or tear at itchy, newly inserted stitches. Mulder looked down into its pain-misted eyes. "Hey there, big fella, you’re going to be all right, aren’t you?" he returned to the nonsense jabbering. He had no way of knowing if it could even understand the concept of words, but dolphins responded positively to the sound of a human voice, and it couldn’t do any harm. "You’re trembling... I guess you’ve gotta be in a lot of pain right now. And frightened. I wish there was some way I could tell you we don’t want to hurt you." Mulder’s fingers kept a soothing rhythm across its shoulders and neck, tracing the fine pale features. "I can’t give you any drugs for the pain. We don’t know what affect they would have on you. Being hurt like that, dragged off the beach by... well, I guess we probably look like monsters to you. Having major surgery, and getting stuffed into a box. But it’s going to be okay from now on. I’m going to look after you. You’ll be just fine." Mulder stayed there for hours, just talking, making sure no one came close who didn’t need to be there. The merman slipped in and out of consciousness, rousing slightly when someone new came near, so Mulder kept any interruptions to a minimum, put a tarpaulin over the tank to keep it dark, and waited until it finally slipped into a deeper sleep. "Why don’t you take a break, Mulder," one of the other centre vets squatted down beside him, "You’ve been here for hours." "No, that’s okay, Frohike. I’ll stay here a while longer." "Somehow I knew you’d say that. I brought an inflatable mattress and a blanket. You can sleep right here. I’ll wake you up if there’s any change." "Do you think he’ll be okay?" "Sure, I mean, I’m not the expert here. Crustaceans, that’s my field. But I’ve seen animals come in with worse wounds and pull through." "But he’s also... well, not human, but if he responds to this type of surgery, like a human would..." "Humans go through worse and survive all the time. Field amputations, major surgery without anaesthetics, it’s part of our history. He’ll survive, I’d bet a good porno mag on it." "Fishes and Fannies?" "Well, maybe not that one..." "Didn’t think so." Mulder sighed. His heart was still racing, even after all these hours. "It’s just that we have no idea. What little bits of information we’ve been able to gather on these things aren’t enough to guide me. I don’t know what level of intelligence we are dealing with here. Is it as smart as a dolphin? Does it just have a fish’s intelligence?" "Maybe it’s like a human? I mean, all those old legends..." "Are precisely that. The tall tales of drunken sailors are not going to be a lot of use when dealing with this guy." "Well, now you have the chance to learn. Someone had to be first." "I can't afford to make a mistake though. It could be years before we even get another body, never mind one that’s still alive." "How many do you think are out there? There can’t be that many, not if they are so rare." "I think they hide from us." "Why? We're not going to hurt them." "Those drunken sailors we were talking about - you know they believed if they managed to catch one of these, they had to rape it then kill it to stave off bad luck. The same thing would happen if they caught dolphins or dugongs. The dolphins forgave us; maybe these things don’t. Maybe they teach their young to avoid us. Whalers used to kill everything they came across. If the mer-people learn, and if they pass that knowledge on to their young..." "That’s supposing an awful lot, Mulder. Even whales and dolphins change their culture and language every year. They don’t pass things down." "Chimpanzees do." "Do you think the merpeople have a culture anything like chimpanzees?" "No... No, I don’t think so. They seem closer to dolphins than anything else from what I’ve been able to find out. But they are still one of our great unknowns." They sat in companionable silence through the rest of the evening, Mulder every now and then lifting the tarp to check if their find was still breathing. It gave him chills to watch the swirls of water breathing pushed in and out of the almost human mouth. Lips exactly like a humans, but teeth more like a sharks. Even and white, but sharp, and replaceable if lost. Nose even and straight, just like an air breathing human. Only the eyes seemed odd. No human being had eyes that beautiful. Enormous eyes that gave a false impression of taking up half the creature’s face, dark green, maybe blue, framed in thick black... lashes? For lack of a better word, lashes would do. If it had been human it would have been... an actor, a model, some rich man’s pampered pet. Someone's heart break and trouble. Someone that would be adored and cosseted. Mulder smiled slightly to himself. Well, fish-guy, looks like you’re going to be adored and cosseted now! He ran his fingers over the delicate membranes of the dorsal fin, from the point it blended with the almost-hair, down to the torn edges at the base of the creature’s spine. Beautiful turquoises, blues, greens, all shimmering together like the feathers of the peacock. Darker blues of the tail blended with the pale, almost silver tail fins. Shimmering perfection was marred by ugly wounds, swollen, red tissues peered through the deep blue scales, travelled onto pink skin. Despite the best of care, tiny bits of flesh were loose in the water, and Mulder wondered if they should keep the healing wounds dry. So many things he didn’t know, couldn’t even guess at. "Okay, Frohike, I’m going to take a break. I’ll be right here though. Any noise, any movement, if his eyes open, anything, wake me up, okay?" "Okay. Try to rest." Frohike knew Mulder was still too excited to really sleep. Mulder was as excited as Langly had been the time he’d found the baby Kraken. Of course, that would have to be released once it got past 20 feet in length, but right now it was small enough to be quite a crowd pleaser. The sounds of the pumps keeping the tank water pure blended with the sound of surf and snores, and Mulder snoozed. -oo0oo- "Has it eaten anything yet?" Scully leaned over Mulder’s shoulder to peer at their patient. "No, nothing yet." "It’s only been a few days, give it time. This has got to be pretty upsetting." "I know. But it needs to regain some energy. I’ve tried pasting up a variety of fish. I’ve brought in strips of kelp – we have film of them eating kelp. I’ve even tried Alaskan Salmon, but he’s shown no interest in anything." "Perhaps he’ll be more interested once he’s unstrapped. Maybe he just doesn’t like to eat lying on his side." "So... you don’t think that having been torn out of his own environment, shredded by a motor boat, having major surgery, and being stuffed into a tank that won’t let him move could be part of it?" "Don’t get sarcastic with me, Mulder, I sign your pay cheques." "Sorry, sir," he grinned and winked at her, flirting his way out of trouble. She pursed her lips in mock-annoyance. "Keep working on it. Whatever you need, the centre’s resources are at your disposal." She turned away, dismissing Mulder. The animal was making her nervous, he could tell. So close to human, yet so... different. It was bound to have that kind of effect on a lot of people. Mulder took another fingerfull of the fish pulp he’d made up and smeared it over the animal’s lips. There was not the slightest bit of interest. Swirls of water took away the food, cleaning the environment, and the animal didn’t even flicker an eyelid in acknowledgement. "Come on, what else? You don’t like seaweed, you don’t like fish? What else are you going to eat down there? You don’t have plankton eater’s teeth. Those are predator’s teeth. Eyes in the front, that’s a predator’s trait. So what else are you eating? What will tempt you, hmm? How about a shrimp?" Mulder stood up, cracking his spine. "I’m going downstairs to see what else we have in store. I’ll be back in a few minutes." He was sure he could imprint on the animal if he kept talking to it, especially if he started to feed it. The eyes followed him now, slowly and with disinterest, but it was a start. Mulder skipped the feed store area. Nothing in there raised the slightest flicker of interest. Okay, fish-guy, you’re apparently half human, let’s try that angle. Mulder let himself into the restaurant that brought in more revenue for the aquarium, and started to raid their seafood tanks. He grabbed a few shrimp, oysters, a lobster, a couple of crabs. Dropping the live produce into a large saucepan, and picking up a meat cleaver. He had to be out of there before the chef caught him – he had yet to be forgiven for making up fish paste in the chef’s expensive juicer. Sitting beside the tank, he chatted to the merman again, "Twelve dollars a pound. You had better like this!" Mulder sliced up the lobster tail, making thin strips of the clear gelatinous insides. "Come on, just try a little bit..." he held the strip against the merman’s lips, making it wiggle like a small fish. The lips were parted, but again no interest was shown. "Oh, come on. You’ve got to be hungry. Warm blooded mammal your size, you’d have to eat a huge amount to maintain body temperature in cold water. Just a little bit, go on. Just taste it. Come on, lobsters mate for life you know, we’ve left a widow lobster in that tank just so you can have the best." Mulder felt something warm flick against his finger tips... was it a tongue? He pushed it in a little further, knowing he was risking a finger, but willing to hazard it as he felt the movement of tongue exploring the titbit. "Go on, that’s right. Just a little bite." The sharp pressure of teeth was fleeting, and Mulder withdrew his fingers as the jaws worked briefly, the tiny offering accepted and swallowed. "Good boy," Mulder petted him, trying to keep his voice to a soothing level, "Here, you want a bit more? Mmmm, that’s right. Nummy nummy! Of course, nothing but the best for you! You want lobster tail? You get it!" He pushed another tiny morsel into the creature’s mouth, feeling the sharp teeth nibbling his own fingers, very gently, before the lobster flesh was sucked away. Mulder eagerly sliced up more hapless crustacean, "So, you’ve made the decision to live then, hmm? I guess, if you’re going to stay with us, we’ll have to find a name for you, won’t we?" He pushed a little more food between its lips. The response was lacklustre, but it was there. There were no infections, the wounds were slowly healing, and now the animal was eating. Wonderful. Perfect. He kept talking to his patient. "The first man who ever proved you existed, who brought back proof positive of homo-aquarius, his name was Krycek. I know it’s not an attractive name, but it would be appropriate. What do you think? A fitting tribute? Better than Wang Wang or Bobo or Ethel. Be glad you’re not a panda! So, Krycek, want another little morsel? That’s a very good boy!" It took nearly four hours, including a forty five minute fish-nap, but eventually Mulder helped Krycek polish off a lobster, four large restaurant special shrimp, and most of a swimmer crab. Mulder finished off the meal with a back and stomach rub to make sure the food settled, then used a soft rubber-noduled brush to remove a filmy build up from Krycek’s scales. He guessed that the sea and sand removed that naturally, and took a few samples for testing later. He completed the ritual by massaging Krycek’s arms and shoulders, making sure they were not cramping too badly in the restraints. Finally he pulled the covers back over the tank, feeling as satisfied as if he’d eaten the meal himself. -oo0oo- "How is it today?" "Good. We’re going to move him into the pump tank today." "Pump tank? But we’ve spent nearly a million dollars preparing a display tank for it." "He needs to exercise, and I need to know he’ll be able to swim properly before I drop him into a large tank. Look, Skinhead, you can wait until I know he’s going to be all right before you start exploiting him, okay?" Skinner scowled at Mulder. He hated the nick name Skinhead as much as he hated his budget not balancing. "When will it be ready?" "No fish before its time." Mulder turned to the rest of the team. "Come on, get him on the stretcher." The pump tank, normally used to exercise injured sharks, kept up a steady stream of water, against which the tank’s occupants would have to swim. Its smooth sides presented no opportunity for injury, and the water pressure and temperature could be easily controlled for any type of animal. Mulder very cautiously freed Krycek’s hands from the restraints, and the group of humans lifted the merman into the tank. Mulder kept hold of its hands as they took the stretcher away, and braced himself against the water as it started up. It was slow at first, until Krycek was used to it. The water pummelled him gently. He held the merman’s fingers lightly in his own, feeling as proud as a parent when, cautiously at first, the merman started to swim a little – an odd side-to-side motion that didn’t fit with the horizontal shape of the tail fins. "Hey, aren’t you worried about those claws?" "Not really, Frohike. He’s still too weak to make much of an attack, and I can get out of this tank before he could do a lot of damage. And besides, he’s got to be intelligent enough to know I’m his meal ticket." "I hope you’re right. No way I’d get in there with those teeth. How long are you going to have to do this anyway?" "Until he’s strong enough to go into a big tank. That swimming motion isn’t right, not for his body shape, so he’s probably still uncomfortable. There was a lot of deep muscle damage, and I don’t think he’s confident yet. Give him time." "Don’t get too fond of it, Mulder. There are so many things that could go wrong, so many diseases, unknown parasites, the wrong water temperature, the wrong food... We don’t know enough about these things. Don’t set yourself up for a fall here." "He’s a strong healthy male, he’s getting the best care we can provide. We have ichthyologists, marine veterinarians, and marine microbiologists on hand. We have a whole team of specialists - the best in the world to call on. I’m betting on his pulling through this. The only thing I’m really worried about is our ignorance of his behaviour. Is he going to pine for his own kind? How long can we keep him here before he wants to leave, can we provide the right kind of care appropriate to his intelligence level?" "How smart do you think it is?" "No idea. Not yet. No language recognition, less than the dolphins show. He hasn’t attacked us, so maybe he knows we are helping him, but then a dumb fish probably wouldn’t attack either. It’s too soon to say." "It’s stopped moving." "Probably tired. Turn off the pumps. I’m going to get some stuff to put in the tank." "I already filled it with salt and a broad spectrum anti-bacterial agent." "I mean rocks, shells, colourful things." "To gauge its reaction to them? You think you can guess its intelligence that way?" "No. Just because anything’s going to be better than looking at the tank walls all the time. I might drop a couple of small live fish in there. Nothing that will worry at his wounds, nothing valuable. Just to see if he interacts with them, or if he tries to eat them. That will give him something to think about." Mulder stared down into the tank, mentally measuring the small movements the merman made to maintain his position. He could feel a tiny, not quite suppressed, bubble of affection for his new pet burst at the back of his rib cage, even though it was ignoring him totally in favour of the tank floor. "Keep your eye on him, I’ll be back in a few minutes." "Mulder?" "Yeah?" "When was the last time you were home?" Mulder just grinned, he knew they were going to tease him even more from now on, they knew his obsessions. "I really think you should go home, get some stuff. I won’t waste my breath telling you to sleep there, but if you are going to move in here with the fish you should at least be comfortable. You could dump your stuff in the office, Scully won’t mind." Mulder pondered the offer, "Do you think I’m weird, wanting to sleep here?" "Yup." "Well, as long as I’m being consistent." -oo0oo- Like bower-birds, the merpeople had decorated their spawning area with shiny objects. The marine biologists who had been trying to find them had only found their spore on that occasion, but they had brought back the objects the merpeople left behind. Mulder had been on that expedition and had kept some of the objects. Now he collected bits of polished coral, colourful stones, and even sea-damaged man-made objects. Although there was no evidence of tool making, the objects had been formed into crude tear-drop shapes, and made up a rainbow of patterns. These would definitely be more interesting for the merman than plain blue tank walls. Mulder yawned and rubbed his eyes. Perhaps one night of sleeping in a real bed wouldn’t be so bad... it would prove Frohike wrong at least. He fed his gold fish; they had been starving while he was away. Mulder made a mental note to come by and feed them more often. He could spare the 10 minute drive here and back a few times a week. He started filling up an old gym bag with any and all paraphernalia he could find on the merpeople. Old text books; both scientific and those that were little more than faerie stories. Anything that could provide an insight into the new acquisition. He knew a lot about the internal physiology of these animals, although never before had he seen them alive, seen a working system. He even had an old skeleton hanging in the living room, the remains of a mermaid, or merman – he couldn’t tell which – killed by a shark. Almost identical to a human from the waist up, and so very similar from the waist down. Femur, tibia, fibia, all the major leg bones, right down to the metatarsals were still present, although more like cartilage than bone, and fitting close together, creating a support structure for the long, heavy tail. The cartilage would be soft and flexible and moved almost like the spines of a shark. Mulder ran his hands over the cold bones as he often had before, imagining warm flesh and scales covering the elegant structure. He’d spent countless hours staring at those bones, transposing what he knew and what he’d seen on taped recordings over the dead structure, imaging the way the animal had moved when alive, pictured it vibrant with life and colour. He grabbed his old video tapes and started to stuff those into the bag as well. Fuzzy old tapes taken by would-be bounty hunters and lucky fishermen. Fleeting shots of the animals on sand bars or beaches, the occasional underwater shot. His treasure was one narrated by David Attenborough. The wild life photographers had not been able to track the animals – they tolerated no human presence, unlike dolphins. But they had been able to leave hidden cameras near suspected migration paths. It had cost a fortune, but the film was a wonderful treasure for people like Mulder, who dedicated their life and education to solving these types of mysteries. Mulder dropped his bag and slipped the tape into the VCR. David Attenborough’s whispering voice shared intimate secrets with him as he dropped onto the couch to visit with old friends, two pods of merpeople travelling and meeting over the course of a northern migration.
Mulder unbuttoned his fly, let the zipper slide down as the merman called Ben ignored the displays of other unattached males. He liked to think he masturbated ‘while’ this video was on, not ‘because’ this video was on. Ben was the only red merperson ever videoed, and he was, as Attenborough said, magnificent. Translucent skin over a sturdy, muscular frame. Huge red dorsals, strong, shimmering scales on his tail. It was little surprise he was being courted by all of the younger males in the group.
Mulder took himself in hand, touching his finger tips gently over his own dry shaft, as the voice told him how Ben was collecting objects to decorate his bower. He watched in rapt fascination, even though he’d seen this tape many times, as Ben politely rebuffed the attentions of potential suitors. As a male who had done his reproductive duty with the females, and who was obviously searching for a mate, he was driving the rest of the pod wild with desire. Mulder started to spread his own precum over the shaft, in lieu of astroglide, enjoying the buildup of sexual tension, imagining himself as one of the suitors, admiring the big red merman, although mentally exchanging red fins for beautiful aquamarine. As Mulder’s fingers increased their pressure, Ben started to display, his fins unfolding in a splendour of scarlet, vermilion, and crimson.
Mulder increased the speed of his touch, his fingers rubbing his own testicles.
Mulder held back a gasp as the thin brown Ray spread out his own dorsals, displaying the most wondrous spread of chocolate browns, shimmering greens, and a fabulous threading of gold throughout. He’d seen that many times, but it always had the power to take his breath away. As the mermen synchronised their display, closer and closer, twining their bodies and long sinuous tails around each other, Mulder increased the speed of his rubbing, feeling the bubbles of precum burn their way through his cock. He imagined himself under the water, feeling the ebb and swell as his fins created a small whirlpool around their entwined bodies, staring into the expressionless face of his mate, his flesh pressed against cool flesh, his aching cock taken into a warm receptacle, scales pressed against his own tail, his fins entwined with Krycek’s... "Shit", Mulder wiped the cream up with a tissue as the mermen on the screen separated with a last contented wriggle. "What the hell are you doing, Mulder?" he chastised himself. He was thinking those kind of thoughts about... an animal. No matter that Krycek looked almost human, Mulder could not allow himself to start thinking like that. That way be madness! Too many late nights watching porn videos and reading books on merpeople, or watching videos on merpeople while reading porno mags. It was all getting confused in his head. He grasped at straws to explain his behaviour. But what did it matter really? Who would know? Since his little sister had been returned to him by a pair of strangely clawed hands when she’d fallen off that boat... she would have drowned if not for the creature that stared back at the boy Mulder through strange eyes and flipped a huge tail as it swam away... he’d been obsessed with the merpeople. No one need know he had these thoughts of bestiality, and it would ensure he looked after Krycek well. Probably for the best all round. Mulder collected all the things he thought he’d need. He could move into the office that directly adjoined the new display tank. A window into the tank would let him watch Krycek while he wrote up his Nobel prize winning treatise, and he could sleep under the desk if need be. -oo0oo- "I’m not taking all the samples listed here, he’ll bleed to death." "You’re exaggerating, Mulder," Scully sighed impatiently. "We have had requests for DNA samples from all the major institutions in America, and many from overseas as well." "I’ll take spit samples then, there’s enough DNA in spit, and that will have to be enough. I’ve taken blood and tissue samples already. He doesn’t need to be cut any more." "Can’t you take bits from the fins?" "How would you feel if I kept cutting bits off your fingers and toes? He has feeling in his fins, you know." "And he told you this, did he?" "I can tell, Scully. He does not like being cut up with scalpels: perfectly understandable. Anyway, I’ve got skin, scales, spit, blood, tissue, stool and urine, hair membrane, and a variety of mucus. He’s had enough." "Semen." "Oh, we don’t need that do we?" "If we ever have the chance to get a mated pair, it would be nice to know its fertile." "They mate male-to-male anyway, and how many hundreds of years have humans been searching for just one live specimen? I don’t think we need to do that." "It allows us another way of testing its health, but why am I telling you this? You know how many diseases can be detected that way, unknown animal or not. Why are you so bothered? You’ve had to do this with dolphins?" Mulder gave her a rueful look, "Yeah well, he looks like a guy... I don’t wanna do this to something that looks like a guy," he hedged unconvincingly. "Nooo," she tapped a pen against her teeth thoughtfully, "that can’t be the problem..." Mulder squished his face at her teasing, "Okay, clear the room, this requires some privacy..." "It’s a fish, Mulder. A fish doesn’t care!" "I care. I’m not fiddling a fish in public." "You diddle dolphins!" Scully wasn’t going to be out done on that one. "You interfere with ichthyoids! You..." "That’s enough, Scully," he laughed, holding his hands out in surrender. "But honestly, I’d rather do it in private. God forbid anyone should see this, I’ll never hear the end of it." Scully sniggered, "Can I set up a vid cam?" "No! If anyone’s going to film this, it’ll be me!" He shooed her out the door, locked it behind her, and made sure all the security cameras were off. "Okay, it’s just you and me big guy, should I dim the lights?" He rolled Krycek over onto his back, the tank water shallow enough that his face and belly were out of the water. Knowing the merman hated being on his back, he waited, one hand in the small of Krycek’s back until the merman relaxed in the new position, "Well, is the water warm enough? Can I offer you a drink? Are you going to claw me to death as soon as I start this?" It was never a problem to get sperm samples from dolphins, in fact, as soon as a dolphin learned what was on the cards, they generally tried to initiate the sampling process as often as possible. Dolphins are such sluts. "Okay, you’re an animal, you’re not hung up on things like this are you? You’re not going to bite me, are you, you’re a good boy, aren’t you?" Mulder kept up the chat, rubbing Krycek’s hip, not just diving in and surprising the merman. "Just let me put on a glove here, make sure my hands aren’t too cold. You don’t mind if I touch you here, do you?" Mulder rubbed his fingers gently over outer lips of the genital area. An almost identical structure to a speckled dolphin, he rubbed the soft fleshy outer lips of the genital pouch. Superficially like a male dolphin, or human girl-child, just before puberty... he could feel Krycek stop fighting the discomfort of being on his back, distracted by Mulder’s explorations. Again Krycek made that curious rattling noise, not from distress, but from curiosity. Mulder’s fingers gently explored the soft skin, but didn’t force inside. He waited until Krycek was relaxed enough with the touching before he started to slip his fingers inside the pouch, very gently easing in and out, making sure there was no pulling or tearing. "Just like making love to a woman, hey, Krycek? Or do you guys do it that way? Are you just wham bam for a full ten seconds like the blue whale, or do you screw around for fun like dolphins?" Krycek was staring at him with a look of even less comprehension than usual: mouth open, eyes huge, but he’d started to wiggle slightly under Mulder’s attentions. Mulder’s fingers slid in deeper, until he could feel the shape of the almost human penis and the bulge of hidden testicles. The whole genital apparatus was so close to being human, but hidden away for safety, and to provide a more streamlined effect in the water. Krycek was becoming slowly tumescent, and certainly more interested in whatever Mulder was doing. Strong muscles in his abdomen flexed as he tried to raise his head to see what was happening. Mulder started manipulate the penis as it extended beyond the pouch opening, talking again to keep Krycek relaxed. "I can’t exactly ask you what you’d like, like I would a human guy, can I? So, we’ll just assume that you’d like a hand job? Most guys like that... lemme see... If I hold you like this, and rub my thumb here, just at the base of the crown... you have no foreskin whatsoever... I guess that would be redundant for mermen... oh yeah, that’s nice isn’t it?" Mulder’s fingers started a firmer rhythm on the smooth skin, his thumb tracing a line from the base to the tip, then circling over the head. He wished he’d had the foresight to put on another glove, to use the other hand to stimulate the hidden testicles, but the merman’s hips and tail were pushing him up, stronger now and healing well, thrusting into Mulder’s hand. Mulder rubbed Krycek’s chest and arms, pushing him down a little when the merman started to splash about too much in the water, his hand pulling a strong and steady reaction from the heated organ until a shot of white semen burst forth. He caught it in the sample cup, along with the few that followed, before expertly capping the cup and putting it aside. "Good boy!" he held Krycek’s penis while the merman relaxed, and kept up rubbing the merman’s stomach, "Good boy." As the contractions faded, he turned the merman over onto his front again and rubbed his back until the animal was totally calm and quiet. Mulder popped the semen sample into a storage unit, where it would be split into several smaller samples for various institutions and a few millilitres would be put aside for chryo-store. He would call in the other scientists and enjoy their knowing titters later. He looked down into the tank, where the merman was looking sideways at him, calm but apparently slightly puzzled. It was the most expression he’d ever seen on the placid face. "So, now you want a cigarette? A snack?" Mulder dangled a bit of lobster flesh in front of the merman’s face until it was taken, pausing while the merman sucked his fingers, licking for any lingering taste of food, one bony hand clasped around Mulder’s wrist. -oo0oo- The whole team had been working 15 hours a day, 7 days a week, for the past month, and now the main tank was ready, with a huge rocky display in the middle, full of interesting caverns and crevices for a large-brained animal to explore, lots of plants, smaller fishes and crustaceans. The tank was designed to be attractive both to occupant and viewer, and to be modified later when Krycek was ready to return to the ocean. Mulder had his hopes set that, like the dolphins, the merman would be content to have the option to leave for the wide open wet spaces, but stay where the eating was good. A portal would allow Krycek to come and go – responding to the signal from the subcutaneous implant already under the skin at the back of Krycek’s neck – but would keep out any undesirables. Of course, the budget makers and promoters of the aquarium didn’t like that provision, but it was the only way to keep the animal activists off their back. Mulder didn’t like it either, but he also knew he didn’t want to keep the creature prisoner – or so he told himself. He tossed the bits of coloured rock and other things that Krycek had played with in the therapy tank into the larger display area, watching the crane slowly lower the smaller tank out over the water. It was lowered in slowly, letting the water temperatures match so that Krycek would suffer no trauma. The waters would eventually mingle, and Krycek would be allowed to leave the smaller tank at his own speed. Mulder pulled on swim fins and a re-breather, the small mask fitting over his nose and mouth, fastening by suction to his face. The latest whiz-bang technology, it would convert the oxygen content in the water into something he could breath, yet weighed no more than a few ounces, less than a clear face mask and without all the pipes and tanks of the traditional scuba diving equipment. As soon as the waters mingled he dropped himself from the examination platform set up by the side of the pool into the waters below the partially airborne therapy tank. The occasional thump came from inside, as Krycek’s nearly healed tail hit the side. As the therapy tank sank below the level of the water, Krycek’s face appeared above, peering out into the new area. He was in no obvious hurry to get out and explore his new environment, but apparently curious enough to start looking around. Mulder decided to try to encourage the merman to come out into the larger display tank. "Hey, Krycek," he made a few kissy noises. Well, it worked with dogs. "Hey, you, come on there, big guy." He could hear the excited noises of the crowd who had paid to see the merman’s first arrival in the display area. They’d each paid a small fortune to be the first members of the public to see a living example, but Mulder wished it could have been left for a few days, to lessen any potential trauma. These people didn’t realise this was an animal more special than their common-or-garden dolphins, selkies, and walruses. They’d been told to be quiet, but he could understand their excitement. "Come on, come out and explore." Mulder kept up a variety of interesting tones and noises, swimming around to demonstrate how safe and comfortable the new tank was. "Come on, coooome on..." Krycek suddenly twisted his tail, launching himself over the side and into the main tank, swimming up to Mulder. "Good boy!" There was a loud and long chorus of oohs and aahs from the audience as all 9 foot of glorious merman slid into their view. Mulder couldn’t help beaming like a new parent at their admiration and amazement. He ducked underwater, still talking through the mask, "Come on, there’s a good boy, come explore!" He started down towards the tank bottom, making sure he didn’t come between Krycek and the audience, letting them have a good view of his beautiful merman. "Look, a cave, and lots of shiny things." He handed Krycek a few bits and pieces from the rocks, letting them be inspected and returned. "We’ve put some live fish in here, you can eat them if you want. But if you don’t, I’ll bring you more lobster…" Mulder looked around, just in case Skinner was listening, "…and all sorts of expensive treats." Krycek swam along beside him, and Mulder was thrilled at the closeness, the trust he was being shown. Everything he touched and showed to the merman was studiously inspected and sometimes tasted. Krycek checked out the overhang above the observation windows that mimicked a small beach. Mulder had asked for that special feature to be included, it would be more comfortable if Krycek wanted to be on dry land for whatever reason, and would allow him to haul himself out of the water easily. Mulder could feel himself grinning under the mask. He must look like a complete idiot to the audience, but he couldn’t get over the amazement of actually swimming with a real live merman. He could feel the warmth from its body when it swam close, and was amazed by its grace and control as it swam over and around Mulder. Everywhere in the tank, apart from the small cave, would allow the public to see Krycek. The small cave was fitted with motion detectors and a camera that would let the staff and Mulder know when Krycek was in there. There were as many interesting things in the tank as Mulder could think to include, things to keep an animal with such a large brain capacity interested.
Mulder was starting to build a theory that the mermen were not of the same limited capacity of intelligence as most animals, that they in fact had as much basic intelligence, or capacity for reason and abstract thought, as human beings. But that their total lack of education and apparent lack of language capacities kept them ignorant of everything except basic survival and instinctive knowledge. He didn’t voice that opinion, however. He knew he was skirting the bounds of pure science, and that a tendency to anthropomorphise Krycek could be incredibly dangerous. Someone was tapping on the glass, despite the large, obvious signs warning against it. Morons everywhere, thought Mulder, but it didn’t appear to bother Krycek. In fact, the animal had swum over to the windows, staring back at the people with as much interest as they displayed in him. The people had frozen in wonder as he’d approached him, and he slowly turned upside down, viewing them as if they had been provided for his amusement, not the other way around. The young woman started to tap again, tentatively trying to get his attention. She jumped back a mile as he tapped back, his claw copying out her exact rhythm. How very interesting, thought Mulder. He also swam to the glass, and tapped out a distinctive beat: bum dabum bum. Krycek copied it exactly, before turning away, investigating the sandy floor of the enclosure. Well, thought Mulder, it appears we may finally have a potential key to communication... Mulder watched in fascination as Krycek used his strong hands and sharp fingers to remove a part of the display, dislodging a large flat rock that had been cemented to the side. Mulder didn’t mind the damage. If Krycek wanted to pull things apart, that was fine with Mulder. But he was somewhat dismayed as Krycek then used the rock to pound a sea anemone into pulp. Okay, you don’t like sea anemones, fair enough, they do sting. And it’s your new house... if you want to redecorate, you redecorate! He left Krycek trying to bury the anemone remains in the sandy floor, and swam back up to the examination platform, hauling himself up to sit, feet in the water, and enjoy his pet’s new outing. As soon as he was settled, he jumped at the feeling of a cold, hard hand encircle his ankle. The announcer’s voice chatted on in the background, spouting nonsense for the visitors, as Mulder stared down into huge green eyes. There was a firm tug on his leg and he wondered if he was going to be pulled back into the water, but the merman seemed content to hold his ankle and stare up expressionlessly. Mulder picked up the microphone beside him, preparatory to the first inane question the audience would direct to him via the announcer. It was hard to focus on the questions with those inhuman eyes focused on him so intently. He took a deep breath and looked away. It was time to make the punters happy. "No, he’s not just some guy with a tail. The merpeople are different from human beings in many ways. Their entire lung structure is different. Although Krycek has lungs that can breath air, indefinitely from what we have seen, he has an extra organ in his chest, almost the size of a lung, that converts water into oxygen before it reaches the lungs. A complex system of alveoli prevents sea water from ever actually entering the lungs. The salt is filtered and passed out through the scales and membranes." "No, as far as we know, he cannot ‘sing like a siren’, at least, he hasn’t shown that ability since he was brought in. He hasn’t got vocal chords like humans, although he could make sounds, they wouldn’t be more than whispers." "We don’t know exactly what he’ll eat yet. He likes crustaceans and kelp, but won’t eat fish. "No, sir, he doesn’t eat ice-cream. Ice-cream and sweets are not part of the diet of sea going creatures." "I don’t know why he’s hanging on my leg, madam, I think that feet and legs are very strange to him, we probably all look like we have two tails." "Ah, yes, I am now aware that he has stolen my swim fin." "No, he isn’t dangerous... or at least he hasn’t tried to harm any of the attendants at the aquarium. We are not letting the public too close though. We don’t know enough about these creatures yet." "I’d say he’d be the comparable age of a human male... late 20s early 30s, from what we know they age at the same rate as humans." Mulder fixed his plastic smile a little firmer at the jokes and idiot questions from the audience, telling himself they were just excited, and knowing what that was like. He felt a solid bump against his leg and the soft ridges of fins and tail as Krycek swam past, gnawing on the stolen swim fin. Mulder watched trails of shimmering blue slide and dip through the water, ignoring the next question until it was asked again. "Sorry? Oh... yes, one day we’d like to get another, but we do fully intend to return Krycek to the ocean." "Yes, there are leg bones similar to a human’s in his tail, but they are not functional." "Yes they do... mate male-to-male, but no, that’s not ‘weird’. It’s probably part of a natural evolutionary population control. Much like baboons or dolphins or ducks, it’s quite natural. It keeps the males at the prime of their sexual prowess and gives females a choice of potential fathers for their offspring." "Yes, they do come in a range of colours." "No, you cannot have one." -oo0oo- The air was warm, his skin slightly damp with easy sweat, the moonlight reflected on water black like oil. Mulder stripped down to his shorts and slid his body into the water. He could see nothing below the surface, and facing away from the observation windows, he could have been sliding into the wide oceans, the moonlight kissing the details away. The tank was as wide as they could make it and still keep it clean. He rolled onto his back and imagined the walls away. The merman had slid into the small cave they’d provided as darkness fell, and Mulder had watched the videos until the water turned to ink and the picture to infra-red, fascinated as the long tail curled around the almost human torso and Krycek slept. He’d had one question answered then, as the cave roof prevented the merman floating to the surface. He had typed out his observation that the merman’s lungs operated like a fish’s swim bladder, and he had to work at sinking down and against floating naturally towards the surface. Now he barely moved, not wanting to disturb Krycek’s sleep on his first night. But he found he couldn’t stay away, and just being in the same water let him connect, feel connected. He felt the solid bump, lifting him a good foot out of the water before sinking down again, and couldn’t resist smiling. He flipped over, and grabbed the last of the tail as it slid past, holding his breath as he was dragged under water and towed along. Krycek flipped him off, turned and surfaced directly in front of Mulder, face two or three inches away. Mulder smoothly trod water, feeling awkward as Krycek barely twitched to maintain his position. Mulder stared into eyes dark green like ancient oceans, expressionless, reflecting nothing but moonlight and Mulder’s own deathless curiosity. Click, rattle. Krycek’s mouth moved, Mulder could see the vibrations in his throat, but couldn’t be sure if it was language, or just noise. Perhaps there were accompanying Sonics? He made a mental note to bring in sound measuring equipment sometime. "Are you trying to talk to me?" he whispered. Krycek’s head on one side, judging Mulder, finding him lacking, backing off a few inches. "Hey... don’t go..." ...And then the merman started to sing. The sound of wind through trees... but no leaves or branches to interfere with the cold clear sound. One long continuous note, it chilled Mulder in the warm water until he felt his bones turn to ice, his flesh turn to eschar. Held in thrall, Mulder stopped moving, but though frozen in place he couldn’t sink, even the water seemed to gel around him – holding him prisoner. There was no release from the sound that pierced through to his very soul. He could feel it pulling his heart from his chest, no longer beating but growing until it felt like it would explode through his rib cage. His head throbbed, not with pain, but with the need to follow the sound, to become a part of it, while a small part of his mind realised he’d stopped breathing as the sound had started. He was getting light headed from lack of oxygen. Then the singing stopped, not quickly, but fading away to a sad and gentle sigh. Krycek turned away and slipped under the surface, disappearing with nary a ripple, and Mulder realised he’d been tested somehow. Tested and found wanting. He had no idea how or why, and he shivered, aching right down to his bone marrow as he swam what seemed miles to the edge to haul himself out of the pool. -oo0oo- There were questions the next day. The skeleton staff who worked at the aquarium at night, and people who lived nearby – or not even so nearby - had heard the noise. There’d been a crowd gathered within minutes, and the security guards had been unable to disperse them for hours. Mulder told no one where the noise had come from, but the speculation had already started. Siren. They who lured sailors to their deaths, destroying many lives, using their song as bait. He’d have to tell Scully; he’d have to write it up in his daily reports, but right now he didn’t want this becoming public knowledge. People were afraid of the unknown, the different, and he’d do or say nothing that would put Krycek in jeopardy or force his early release. He sat by the edge of the pool, feet dangling into the water, and watched warily as the merman streaked up from the depths, grabbed the edge of the platform and plopped himself down beside Mulder, emulating the human’s position. Sitting up like that Mulder felt he should hand the guy a beer like a couple of pals out for a day’s fishing. "What was all that about, Krycek?" he asked, not expecting an answer. He could feel the aching still, although now it had settled down to a sad yearning. Every cell in his body still leaned towards the noise, despite the hours since he’d heard it. "I guess you’re going to keep on surprising us, aren’t you." Mulder reached out and ran his hands over Krycek’s face, across the almost-hair that blended with dorsal fins. "Lie down, it’s time for physio." He manoeuvred the merman onto the platform properly, and then started to gently rub down the site of the wounds. The scarring was barely more than a disturbance of scales now, and Mulder manipulated muscle, bone, and cartilage until any stiffness was gone. While he worked, Krycek curled the great tail up and started to groom himself. Mulder watched in fascination as Krycek’s long fingers manipulated scales and fins, sorting out any itchy spots, parasites, getting his fins just how he wanted them. "What’s he doing?" Scully’s voice interrupted Mulder’s fascination. "Squeezing the barnacles on his butt," Mulder joked. Krycek turned to look at Scully, still sitting on his folded tail. The end of the tail slapped the ground hard. "Was that irritation, like a cat’s tail twitching, or more like a dog wagging?" "I really don’t know, Scully. I wish he’d show more in the way of facial expression." "He’s not human..." "I know, but cats have plenty of facial expression, as do dogs. But then, I guess fish and cetaceans don’t. It’s probably not a requirement of underwater communication." Krycek’s tail hit the floor with another thump, then he turned to Mulder and started sorting through Mulder’s hair. "Ah... looks like I’m being groomed now." Scully couldn’t help laughing as Mulder was pulled this way and that, his hair combed back, then his nose, ears, and mouth were inspected and prodded with long fingers. "Turn about’s fair play, I guess I was doing this to him earlier..." Mulder mumbled around a mouthful of fish fingers. "I fink he’th tryig to check my teef..." "I dare say they look strange to him." Scully leaned her elbows on the platform, still standing on the main walkway. She had more sense than to get close to the merman. "We open in ten minutes, you wanna get him into the water?" "He wants to sit in the sun for a moment. Do you want me to just shove him in?" "The people like to see him swimming. At $20 per adult we want to give them what they want." "He’s worth a lot more than just the takings at the gate you know." "I know," she smiled indulgently. "Later today cetacean language experts from Seaworld are going to come around. They want to see if he can be taught simple signs and signals." "I think it would be more to the point if we learned his language, his methods of communication, rather than imposing our own structure on him." "Like that sound last night?" "You heard that, huh." "I think everybody in a five mile radius heard that. What caused it?" "I don’t really know. One moment he’s swimming, the next... it’s that... wailing. Do you think that’s what the sailors describe as the siren song?" "It’s possible, Mulder. The sirens supposedly killed people. Will he?" "He displayed no signs of violence, he was just... calling. Perhaps to me or perhaps he’s lonesome for his own kind. He wasn’t threatening. And all the sirens did, if I remember, was to lure sailors to their deaths, not actually kill anyone themselves." "Big difference, Mulder." "Enough of a difference. What time are they going to be here?" he changed the subject abruptly. Scully checked her watch. "About an hour." "Won’t that interfere with your floor show?" "It should give the audience something new to look at. They’ve asked that he not be fed until they get here, in case they want to use food as reinforcement." Mulder nodded his agreement and hauled himself up. As he dropped from the platform onto the walkway, Krycek flopped back into the water, watching Mulder’s progress through the observation windows. As Mulder went past, Krycek’s fins came fully erect, the first time Mulder had seen that happen. Mulder paused by the window, watching as Krycek passed him, turned and swam back, again showing all dorsals. It was mesmerising, enchanting. A fantastical display of unearthly beauty. Just for a few seconds he blended with the surrounding water, a ripple of distortion, slivers of shining mirror. The fins caught every other colour in the tank, refracting rainbows from the other fish, corals, and even the colours from the clothing of the people watching. Mulder oooed with all the rest, his face like a five year old boy lighting up the first time he saw Father Christmas. The first of the day’s visitors pressed a sticky nose up against the glass, and Krycek was distracted into staring back at them, so Mulder went on to collect his notes and prepare for his new visitors. Shaking his head and grinning like an idiot. Silver fins reflected in his eyes and mind for the next few hours.
-oo0oo- The audience laughed at the frustrated attempts of the language experts to try to communicate. They had a bucket of all of Krycek’s favourite foods, but it seemed they couldn’t even communicate that they wanted to communicate. Mulder typed into his notebook, "It appears not just to be an uncommon language, but the whole concept of a sound or symbol based language that is missing. Despite full frontal lobe development comparable to a human being, there is no response to any of their strategies." One of the other scientists was tapping a small wooden square. The silhouette of a lobster was being totally ignored. Krycek didn’t seem aware that the lobster hidden behind the board was still there. Perhaps no idea of abstract symbols? Perhaps out of sight, out of mind? They were getting more and more frustrated. Mulder could hear their voices. "Even the stupidest dolphin could work that out!" "He’s not stupid," Mulder whispered to himself, "He just doesn’t need to tap a board with pictures on it in the wild. He knows what he needs to know." Suddenly Krycek launched himself up onto the platform, all spiny fins and claws and teeth, the scientists jumped back, squealing in surprise. They calmed quickly, used to dolphins and orcas doing similar things, especially when he made no move, other than hanging half in half out of the water. But the audience screamed in delight when Krycek slapped the bucket backwards, sending three days worth of expensive food sailing over his back and into the pool. Lobsters, crabs, shrimp, and scampi, all alive and swimming like mad, made a break for their freedom in the merman’s tank. Krycek rattled again, before awkwardly heaving himself sideways and back into the pool. Mulder watched and grinned as Krycek chased his favoured selection around the tank, playing contentedly with an abundance of food, ignoring every attempt of the language experts to attract his attention. Swimming with a blue crab clenched in his jaws, Krycek happily bulldozed another through the pebbles on the bottom of the tank. He’d obviously waited for his chance, until the humans were not paying full attention, before getting exactly what he wanted. "Nope, not stupid at all." -oo0oo- "He’s stopped reacting to the visitors." Scully stared through the glass as the merman, who was annoying one of the small crustaceans still loose in the tank in a desultory manner. "I guess they just lost their amusement value." "He seems... depressed. He only shows any animation when he sees you. Much as he appears to enjoy your company, it might be time to consider releasing him." "He’s only been here a couple of months... Have you even made your money back on the cost of the enclosure?" She sighed. He’d hit a sore spot there. "No, not yet." She didn’t meet Mulder’s eyes. "He’s not showing any sign of ill health, is he?" "No. Healthy as a horse. Eating well, gaining weight, no residual effects of the accident." "Then we don’t have to release him yet. I’m just..." "Making politically correct noises." She smiled ruefully, then: "He’s noticed you." Krycek released his prey/toy, gliding gracefully to the window. Ignoring every other person nearby, he focused on Mulder and started twisting and turning. Every fin was fully extended, and since regaining his health they had taken on a mirrored gleam. The membranes caught the light, and like the turquoise scales they reflected like diamonds. Ooohs and aaahs from the audience were ignored by Krycek as the merman twisted and turned, displaying his grandeur and underwater prowess. Mulder watched, fascinated, at the shimmering dance, almost as much in thrall of the brilliant colours and flickering lights as he had been of the singing. "Wow..." "Yeah, wow," Mulder echoed Scully’s hushed amazement. "That’s really... beautiful..." "Yeah." "What does it mean, is he after food? Why does he do that?" "I think... I think he thinks I’m his mate. And... I think that the depression you see is... he’s disappointed I’m not responding." "Why? Why does he think you’re his mate?" "Hey, you’re the one you said I should take semen samples. He obviously thinks I’m leading him on! I also bring him food, and am his main point of contact and companionship. It’s not surprising." "Well, I’m surprised. Then again... I’ve known you long enough..." "Me? Why do you blame me? I’m just doing my job." "Of course." "I am! He’s the one who’s got the wrong idea here." "Does he?" "What do you mean?" "Nothing, Mulder. You’d better walk up and down past the windows every now and then though. He just floats there when you’re not here, but when he sees you he gives the customers a wonderful display." "Ah yes, let’s not worry about behaviour problems, or depression, or any resulting health problems that could result from stress, let’s just hope we are giving the customers their money’s worth." "Mulder..." "Sorry." "Perhaps we could start seeing how he interacts with other sea life. We have a few larger fish, a turtle, a few smaller octopi etc. that we were thinking of releasing into the tank with him..." "To make it more visually interesting to the customers?" "To make things more interesting for him, Mulder, don’t be so cynical". "Okay, go ahead. I’m going to get some food for him. He’s not too interested in hunting what’s in the tank now; he’s only interested in things that are given to him." "Could it be because you’re the one who’s giving the stuff to him?" Mulder didn’t bother to answer. The display in the tank stopped as soon as he was out of sight, and Krycek settled to the bottom of the tank. There were some disappointed noises from the audience as Krycek flipped sand and small pebbles over his own back, partially hiding himself with incomplete camouflage. A group of teenagers started banging against the glass. Mulder watched from the walkway, but didn’t stop them. Krycek wasn’t usually bothered by that, and if he was he had his own way of dealing with it. One young man shouted through the glass, pissed off that ‘the fish’ wasn’t doing anything. He’d paid his money and wanted to see some fin. The banging and shouting went on, and Mulder moved to call security, but Krycek started very slowly sliding across the floor until he was below the viewing level of the windows. The young punk, instead of losing interest now Krycek was out of sight, started shouting and thumping the glass harder. As the guard moved to quiet them, Krycek shot up from below the window, in full display of teeth, claws, dorsal fins fully extended until every spine was visible. As the merman shrieked the most appalling noise, his claws scrabbling against the glass, the guys shouting abuse shot backwards, squealing in surprise and fear. The rest of the audience, annoyed by the teenagers’ performance already, shrieked with laughter, pointing and applauding in delight. As they realised that one of the young men, the one shouting loudest, had actually wet himself with fear at the mock attack, they laughed even harder. Krycek shook himself, rattling spines and teeth, and released a small cloud of semen into the water – an expression of the utmost of contempt and superiority – before sliding away calmly to settle on his artificial rock formation and groom his scales, back to the audience. The damp young man – followed by his entourage, some still shaken, others sniggering – stormed out of the viewing area, muttering under his breath. Mulder couldn’t help smiling. The merman sure knew how to take care of hecklers. He gave the thumbs up signal to the technician by the input gate, and watched as they started to release other animals into the tank. He didn’t think Krycek had been overly perturbed by the little brouhaha with the youngsters, and he pulled out the laptop to observe any reactions. Krycek lazily slid over to investigate, watching, but not really interacting with any of the fish introduced into his environment. He followed the octopi as they scuttled into the rocks to hide, but neither creature seemed to bother the other. There was some interest, and the audience laughed in delight as the turtle was grabbed and played with. Two foot long and one and a half feet wide, the turtle was big enough to be used like a self propelling surf board. Mulder himself suppressed a grin, typing away. Krycek wasn’t being cruel to the turtle, and if he had been it would have been removed immediately. The reptile was valuable, but it was defiantly being used as a toy. The turtle didn’t seemed too concerned, although it took a few half hearted snaps at Krycek’s hands as it was ridden across the tank. The door opened again, and a small shark nosed into the new environment. Mulder tensed up until he identified the species, a three foot grey nurse, imported at some expense. It was not aggressive and shouldn’t be a danger, although the audience didn’t know this and they tensed up, murmuring excitedly. Krycek was focused on it, his spines up and bristling, agitated, tail jerking side to side. Mulder called out to the technician, "Langly, I think you’d better get that shark out of there. This isn’t a good idea." "It’s not dangerous..." "No, but Krycek is. I don’t think he likes his new house guest." Krycek’s odd, agitated swimming continued. He drew up a few feet under the shark, which seemed to pick up on the implied threat, moving to escape. The water erupted into threshing as the shark jerked violently, and Mulder realised that Krycek had shot a few of his spines out like a spear gun, impaling the shark through the body and head, though not killing it outright. The audience shifted back, not frightened, but shocked and disgusted. Mothers tried to cover the eyes of children, who pulled away the hands to watch, fascinated, as the merman slowly stalked up behind the shark, before attacking and disembowelling it with sharp claws. This started to upset the children, who screamed about the shark still being alive. Mulder watched, fascinated, his heart in his mouth that the merman would be injured if the shark could catch him. The poor animal was churning up the water, which turned pink around it. Watching the merman stalk and slash the shark... it was like Jaws in reverse. "Mommy, he’s eating it alive!". Even Mulder’s strong stomach churned as Krycek tore mouthfuls of flesh from his victim. He jumped up onto the observation platform, tapping out the rhythm he’d been trying to get Krycek to recognise. The water swirled, then what was left of the shark flew out of the water, landing a few feet away from him, flopping about hopelessly on the platform. Mulder stepped away from it, aware of the still fully functional jaws, as Krycek hauled himself up onto the platform beside him. Mulder had to admit it was fascinating to watch Krycek efficiently butcher the remains of the shark. The merman filleted the shark’s carcass, then hauled himself over to Mulder, seriously offering him the fins and neatly cut steaks from its tail. As Krycek rolled himself onto the platform properly, munching on some himself, Mulder mimed eating his gift. "Mulder?" "Yes, Scully?" "Did you see that? He shot those spines into the shark." "Yeah, well it wasn’t my idea to put a shark in there with him. Looks like he has the intelligence to recognise a potential danger and..." "That wasn’t the problem. I can ignore the expense of replacing the shark and I’ll placate Skinner, but he shot those spines out. We didn’t know he could do that. If he tries to do that to a human..." "He’s no more dangerous now than he was when I was in his tank this morning. He’s made no threatening moves against any other humans. It’s like sharks are either automatic prey or he just sees them as a threat." Mulder was back in analytical mode. The loss of the shark and the traumatised audience meant little to him as he started mentally cataloguing new facts. "He’s covered in blood." She wasn’t going to be placated so easily. "It’s shark blood, he’s not injured. That was a very effective performance. These merpeople are extremely efficient hunters, it would be interesting to see how he’d fair up against a larger shark, something more dangerous," Mulder said thoughtfully. "Not that I would allow that. I’m not going to have any more sharks or dangerous large creatures in that tank. Just in case. In fact, I’d keep an eye on the turtle - Krycek might decide that’s a potential meal as well." "What are you eating?" "I’m not eating it. He gave me some... I’m just pretending." "Yeah, I guess he’s not someone who’s gifts you’d refuse." "Want some?" he offered her a particularly tender strip of bleeding meat. "Err, no thanks. I think I’d better go and explain to the shark keeper exactly why he’s going to be one short today. Just what I needed." "What are you worried about? Pendral will love it. Any excuse to have you visit him," Mulder smirked. "Yeah, well, at least he doesn’t give me bits of half dead shark as courting gifts."
Mulder slipped into the water, fixing on the full face mask that not only let him breathe, but see underwater in the dark. He wondered if he’d hear the strange compelling song again tonight. He sank slowly below the surface, watching his friend rise up from the small cave to meet him. The displaying started after only a few moments, the twisting and turning, the choreographed dancing no less effective in moonlight than it had been in sun. Pale slivers of light poured off the exquisite creature like liquid mercury, pooling on pale translucent flesh. Mulder started to sway a little, as he’d seen the merman in the video do, knowing it was a mistake but curiosity as to the reaction he’d receive drove him on. He was positioned with careful water flutters by the merman over the pile of coloured stones, shredded shoes and other objects that Krycek had gathered over the past few weeks. A bower, Mulder identified. As he swayed, Krycek’s movements became more and more complex, twisting closer and closer, adding soft touches from hard fingers. "Hey," Mulder mumbled through the mask, "I’m not your type, you know. I’m not even your species." Krycek writhed closer and closer, the long tail twisting around Mulder’s legs. "It’s not that I intended to lead you on..." sharp claws tugged at Mulder’s swimming trunks. "But I don’t really think we are fully compatible." The fabric tore a little. "It’s a lifestyle choice, you understand. I choose to breath air and walk around on the ground, and you like to be underwater. If we tried to live together, well, I’d drown if I moved into your place, and if you tried to move into my house you’d end up scraping the skin off your belly. Not that we have to move in together..." he kicked his way up to the surface of the water, pushing his mask off his face, "...but I don’t think you’re after a one night stand here, are you..." The fabric tore away and Mulder stopped his nonsense rambling. Cold fingers explored his penis, gently caressing him, and Mulder found himself supported and restrained by the long tail while soft warm lips investigated his face, but didn’t particular focus on his lips. "So, do you guys kiss then..?" Mulder took Krycek’s face in his hands, pressing his lips to the merman’s, the reaction wasn’t quite right. With Krycek it was just mouth pressing, not lip-to-lip exploration of true kissing. "Let me show you this human thing called kissing," Mulder couldn’t resist the cliché. He took his time, showing the merman every technique he knew, nibbling lips, caressing Krycek’s tongue with his own. He avoided the sharp teeth, but his explorations found a mouth in every other way like his own. Krycek rattled again, softly, and again, until to Mulder it sounded almost like purring. He put his hand against Krycek’s throat, caressing the merman’s jaw and slightly pointed ears, feeling the thrum of the purr under his fingers. He’s an animal... this isn’t right, Mulder’s doubts surfaced, or at least, he tried to drag them up, but it was a weak excuse as he felt the soft scrape of scales against his legs and the satin slide of Krycek’s skin against his stomach and groin. It wasn’t like he’d initiated this... was it? Strong arms slipped around his back, holding him close, and he held in return, rubbing his erection against Krycek’s torso and genital opening, feeling his penis slip past the swelling lips, feeling Krycek’s penis kiss his own in passing. The growing heat of their bodies worked against the slight chill of the water. Mulder used his fingers to guide the merman’s penis between his legs, using his thighs to emulate the feel of being held inside another merman’s body, trying to make this as close as possible to what Krycek would remember. Inside, Krycek was hot, the flesh slick and caressing. The muscles of the genital pouch caressed Mulder’s cock, and he pushed himself deeper. As Krycek became more erect, the heat of him was pushing up against Mulder’s balls. As his penis extended from his body, he was making more room within himself for Mulder to thrust into. Mulder pulled his mask back into place as he was pulled below the water. Like a crocodile had him in a death grip he was dragged down, twisting and turning as the merman spun them both through the water. Never before had he made love under the water, not with man or woman or human being. He’d fantasised about it, about how romantic and dissociative it would be, but the reality was it frightened him. He wondered, if his mask was dislodged, would the merman let him go, or would he drown here in the siren’s arms? Would the merman mourn? But it was harder to think of things like that as their bodies twisted and ground together. Strong arms and tail held him in place as he thrust and gyrated against the merman’s body. He let his hands run over the merman’s chest, finding the small nipples, rubbing and pinching them. Krycek froze for a second, looking at him in surprise, before arching back, bring Mulder over in a perfect arc through the water. With each new stimulation the merman twisted, grinding their pelvises together, and Mulder gasped at oxygen in short supply, the mask hard pressed to keep up. Deeper and deeper they went, into each other, and under the water. Mulder felt the pebbled floor against his back as Krycek used the ground to compensate for Mulder’s lack of underwater power. He felt the hot, soft, slick muscles contract around his body, felt Krycek’s last frantic thrashings, saw the merman’s face finally contort in passion and felt his own climax, felt the wonderful spasms as he poured his seed into the merman’s body, as Krycek pulsed his own in heated bursts between Mulder’s legs. The water turned milky around their waists, but only briefly. Mulder was too content, too desperate for a decent breath to be disgusted as a few small fish took care of the light snack their passions had provided. Mulder lay on the bottom of the pool, his arms moving lazily through the water to stop himself from floating up, while he regulated his breathing, listening to his heart pound. Krycek floated above him like a ghostly apparition, his face once again placid – perhaps a little softer, his mouth lax, eyes content as he stared down at Mulder. "This wasn’t a good thing, Krycek," Mulder whispered, "We shouldn’t... I shouldn’t have done this." He stopped fighting the water, letting it carry him slowly to the surface, aware of being shadowed all the way. He grasped the edge of the platform, but strong arms wrapped around his hips. He tensed, but instead of pulling him in, they lifted him easily. He knelt and looked back into the water, reaching down to caress the merman’s face. Krycek pulled himself out of the water, just slightly, looking up at Mulder with the utmost intensity and concentration. "Good boy." A sound soft as moth’s wings, with no power or voice behind it, with the same humanity as the voice of a flute made of bone. Such an incongruously beautiful sound to carry such an inane phrase. Mulder gasped, leaning down to the merman, "What did you say?" But Krycek simply clicked his tongue, shaking his head slightly. "Come on, say it again. Good boy. Good boy, go on, say it." Krycek cocked his head on one side, and Mulder had the distinct impression he was being laughed at, before he was presented with the vision of the long blue tail flicking with silver light trails back down into the depths of the water. "Well, I’ll be damned." Mulder knelt by the pool for a while, before deciding that maybe it would be best if tonight, for the first time in a long time, he slept in his own home. He could listen to the waves of his own private beach and pretend he was here, or that Krycek was there. But somehow, it just seemed for the best that for tonight he put a little distance between them. He grabbed his clothes and jogged home, more enervated than he could remember being in his life. So this was what it was like when fantasy became flesh...
-oo0oo- "Mulder? Something dreadful’s happened. Get down to the..." Mulder didn’t wait for Scully to finish. She’d only phone him if it involved the merman, and if it was dreadful he didn’t need to hear any more. He arrived heaving for breath, his leg muscles screaming at him. "Where is he?" "He’s in the cave, he’s moving, but he won’t come out." "So he’s alive?" "Yes." Mulder’s shoulders slumped in relief, then he noticed the police officers milling around, the shocked white faces of the staff. "What happened?" "Those kids, the ones that were yelling at him today. You remember, he screeched at them, frightened them?" "Yeah?" "They came back. Looks like they wanted to teach him a lesson." "Did they hurt him?" Mulder could feel the panic rising again. "We only found this out quarter of an hour ago. He hasn’t come out of his cave yet." "So why the police?" "He killed one of them." "He what?" "The cleaner found the body floating on top of the pool, bloated and partially disembowelled. He had those spines through him, like Krycek put through the shark. The other boy is gashed, and the third boy is okay - he didn’t go into the water. We’ve got one kid dead, one in hospital, and the other one's hysterical. The police are asking if the merman should be destroyed." "NO!!" Mulder couldn’t believe what he was hearing. "They broke in here, they tried to kill him..." "We don’t know that." "What else would they have been doing? They were trespassing, they got what they deserved." "How can you say that? A young man is dead!" Mulder grabbed a re-breather, "I’m going down there. Who knows what they did to him." "Mulder, you cannot go down there. He’s killed someone..." "He could be hurt." Mulder refused to listen to the voice of reason when it was telling him things he didn’t want to hear. He dove into the water, down to the cave. Krycek was curled up awkwardly, and barely made room for Mulder when the human crawled in with him. Mulder ran his hands over the merman, looking for wounds. He couldn’t see anything, which didn’t bode well. If Krycek was uninjured, how could he prove that the merman had been defending himself when he’d killed? "Hey there, are you okay?" the merman wouldn’t even look at him, still hardly moving, totally rigid in that awkward half curled position. Mulder took hold of Krycek’s hips, easing him out of the cave. He could hear Krycek rattling again, the sound definitely one of distress. Krycek’s hand grabbed his wrist, but offered no resistance as Mulder got him out of the cave and started to float them both to the surface. Krycek wasn’t even trying to swim, holding his body totally still, but letting Mulder move him. Floating under the platform, he had to use the automatic switch to lower it into the water, pushing Krycek onto it as the merman refused to help load himself. Mulder hit the switch again, raising them both out of the water. He ignored nervous police officers, who stood around with their hands on their guns, equal parts fascinated and frightened. Someone was asking him questions, but he ignored them, trying to find out how the merman had been injured. Scully knelt beside him, "Can you see anything, Mulder?" "There’s definitely something wrong. He’s hurt, but I can’t see where." The merman’s breathing was rapid. He was breathing through his nose, his jaw gritted, and it sounded like he was bubbling. Mulder started to listen to his chest to see if there was a lung injury. "Mulder?" "What is it?" he responded, distracted. "Mulder, he’s bleeding from the pouch." Mulder looked down. There was a small trickle of sticky red blood diluting through the water droplets surrounding the merman’s genital pouch. He reached down, very gently separating the lips. "Oh god," Mulder whispered. "He’s been stabbed." "How can you tell?" "The knife’s still in there." He heard Scully’s in-drawn breath, and cursed himself more than those who’d done it. He knew enough about human nature to have at least guess they would try something. The merman had made them look like fools, they’d tried to... what, castrate Krycek? No wonder the merman had tried to kill them. Used to Mulder, it hadn’t attacked them as would have been its natural instinct, it had trusted them, probably expecting food or play. Let them get close enough to stab him, even inserting the knife into his body, before realising it was under attack, and attacking back – with deadly force. "Get the trolley here and get the hot tank ready." Mulder and two of the aquarium assistants carefully loaded Krycek onto the trolley, and into the heated tank. Mulder was grateful Krycek didn’t view any of them as a threat, wasn’t panicked enough by his pain to attack the staff or himself. Krycek was gasping slightly, his breathing still strained, and his claws dug into Mulder’s arms as he was moved. Not enough to draw blood, but Mulder couldn’t help thinking of the disembowelled corpse that had been floating in the pool this morning. He noted one of the claws was missing, possibly pulled out on clothing or bone. He’d deal with that after he removed the knife. "Strap him down," Mulder ordered after Krycek was lowered into the small tank. He was strapped onto his back, hands over his head, body partially underwater, but his belly up where Mulder could work. He injected a pain killer directly into Krycek’s groin, one they’d found should be compatible. It hadn’t been used on him before, but Mulder wasn’t going to let the merman suffer for lack of tests. Not just now. Within minutes the merman started to relax, his breathing evening out. "Well, that worked," Mulder said. "Like heroin, he’s going ga ga. What was that?" Langly asked. "Morphine based. He’s mammal enough, human enough, that it should work for him." Mulder leaned over Krycek to whisper, "Good boy," watching Krycek’s eyes half close, his expression quite fuzzy as the drug took over. Very carefully, he pulled the lips of the genital pouch apart, "Hold this open, Lang |
