"I reviewed your case and your service record... combat duty in Panama, Grenada, distinguished service in the Gulf, great triumphs and great tragedies." "It's clear to me, Lieutenant Colonel," " these suicide attempts are simply..." " Cries for help." "You've tried and failed to kill yourself three times in as many weeks." " Frankly, if you wanted to..." " You don't understand." "He won't let me." "He won't let me die." "Who?" "Who won't let you die?" "Relax." "I'll be back with something to help you sleep." "Stand down, Lieutenant Colonel." "No!" "Not this time!" " Aah!" "Just let me go!" "Oh, my God." " Where is he?" " Down here." "He's in there." "Easy." "I-I told you he won't let me die." "I don't wanna talk about it anymore." "I told them and I told them, but they won't listen." " You mean they don't believe you." " No, sir." "You said in the report that at the time of the accident, you believed somebody was in the room." "It was no accident." "Don't you understand?" "But this person saved your life, is that right?" "Look at me." "Look!" "I have no life." "He took it all away." "Do you have any idea who it is?" "I never see him clearly, but he looks like a soldier, standin' at attention." " G.I.?" " Or one of Saddam's boys, come back to hold me accountable." "Who ever it is, he knows my name." "He speaks to you?" ""Your time has come," he said." "Then he started takin' it all away." "What did he start taking away?" "Everything." "My wife, my children." " And how did he do that?" " How did..." "He burned them alive." "Now he makes me suffer... because he won't let me die." "Agents Mulder and Scully, may I have a word with you?" "I've been asked to suspend whatever investigation you've begun here." "Asked by whom, Captain." "General Callahan, Lieutenant Colonel Stans' commanding officer." " Is something wrong?" " Protocol requires... all criminal investigation of military personnel... to be conducted through military channels and their superior officer." "What?" "We didn't sign in at the front desk?" "You're in breach of code and procedure." "Excuse me, but does General Callahan have a superior officer?" " Ma'am?" " Assuming we wanted to investigate him," " who would we talk to?" " Investigate him for what?" " Whatever." " General Callahan's the senior officer." " We'd like to speak to him." " I don't know he's available." "Ask him to make himself available." "Tell him that it's our protocol." "In the meantime, we would like to finish up with Lieutenant Colonel Stans." "You never know when he might try and kill himself again." "Let's finish this, Mulder." "I keep having the same dream almost every night." "I know a lot of crips have the same dream: "The Walk."" "In my dream, I rise up out of my chair, I can stand." "And I look down the hallway, only I'm not in the ward anymore, I'm at home." "There's my baby girl." "Without even thinking about it," "I take a step towards her, and I take another step." "Then I pick her up and I carry her outside on my own two feet." "Outside is my little boy." "We run together." "Running." "Me!" "My legs, like they were before." "We play a little bit of football." "I show him a few moves." "You know, like the old man used to do." "We just walk home." "No crutches, no wheelchairs." "I know I'll never walk again, but this dream seems so real." "I can't help but think that may be someday..." "Don't hold your breath." "I think we'd all be interested in your point of view, Leonard." "Oh, you really wanna know what I think?" "I pity all you guys." "I really do." "With your handicapped basketball and your wheelchair races." "You all act like we're normal people." " We are normal people." " If you look in the mirror, my friend, you are missing a leg." "I-I don't have any." "Where..." "Where'd my arms go?" " We all know how you feel." " No, you don't." "How the hell could you possibly know how I feel?" "There's only one way you could ever know, and I can only pray he'll come down and take your legs and arms away... and give you a little taste of what it feels like!" "Roach." "I'm sorry, gentlemen." "Let's begin again." " What is it, Roach?" " What's what?" "You got that "I'm freakin' out" look on your face." " What's the matter?" " It's nothing." "Bull." "I spent two years with your sorry ass in a gun turret." "I think I know when you got something on your mind." "Come on, Private." "Make your report." "It's the F.B.I., man." "They're downstairs." "They're asking questions about the L.C." "The hell with the Feds." "All right, Roach?" "Do you hear me?" "The hell with them." "just forget about them." "General." "Sir?" "Agents Mulder and Scully to see you, sir." " Thank you." "I want you to know..." " General." "I've had the captain contact the Justice Department... and let them know about the F.B.I.'s gross misconduct here." "I guess this isn't a good time to thank you for seeing us." "Let me assure you, this matter will not go unaddressed." "I hope not, considering the extremity of Lieutenant Colonel Stans' case." "What case?" "There's no case." "Stans is a very sick man." "Yes, so we gathered." "But his file is missing... several important facts which came out in our interview with him." "I'm sure everything germane to Stans' situation is on file." "Except for any mention of the death of his wife and two children... in a house fire three months ago." " Well, it was a tragic accident." " No doubt." "But there is no record of any criminal or arson investigation." "Stans tried to save his family that night." "Well, according to him, he was prevented from doing so... by some kind of phantom soldier." "Look." "I've known Stans a long time, and there's no doubt that he has suffered terribly." "Not unlike Staff Sergeant Kevin Aiklen." "You know Sergeant Aiklen, isn't that correct, sir?" "He served under me in the Gulf, yes." "Six months ago, Aiklen also lost his family to a house fire." "Afterwards, he received psychiatric treatment for delusional behavior, telling the doctors he wanted to die, but that somebody wouldn't let him." "Before throwing himself into a wood chipper on the hospital grounds." "Now, unless that's procedure and protocol," "I'd say the coincidence of detail has been rather strangely overlooked, sir." "Hold on." "Just who's under suspicion here?" "Look." "I make no excuses for the sadness of these men's lives." "They are casualties of war." "Once brave men who we can do little but feel sorry for." "If you think there's more to it, you are seriously mistaken." "That's your conclusion, General." "But I'd hope you'd allow us the opportunity to come to our own." "Do you really think the general's got something to hide?" "No." "I think he's got everything to hide." "You don't think he's just closing ranks to protect his men?" "Mulder, I know it's not what drew you to this case to begin with, but I think it's very clear what's going on here." "What's that?" "The general is protecting his men, but what he's protecting them from... is prosecution for the murder of their families." " Why would he do that?" " I don't know." "But I can think of several good reasons." "Because they were his soldiers and he feels somewhat responsible..." " for the tragedies?" " That could be one." "Or maybe he knows the deeper secrets to their madness, the biological weapons they were exposed to during the war, the cause of the effect." "Considering the government's absolute disavowal of Gulf War Syndrome," "I'd say it's a pretty good reason to prevent our investigation." "But you're not buying it." "No." "I can't figure out is why a man who so deliberately and methodically... set out to commit suicide would leave the one entrance to the room unsecured." "Then again, I obviously have a feeble grasp of army protocol and procedure." " Come in." "I want to apologize, sir." "I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that earlier." " I know that, Captain." " This whole situation is unfortunate." "Is there anything more I can do?" "No." "Go home and get some rest." "We'll deal with it in the morning." "Relax, Captain." "That's an order." "Yes, sir." "Your time has come, killer." "General Callahan." "One of the detectives is saying Captain Draper's death wasn't accidental." "There are bruises around her neck and her shoulder, roughly the size of finger marks." "And someone drowned her?" "The bruises and surrounding edema are consistent with a struggle." "Will you be contacting her family?" "She had no family." "The army was her family." "I'm sorry." "Truly." " I talked with security personnel." "Other than Captain Draper, they saw no one enter and no one leave." "But the officers are saying she was drowned." " Do you have a family of your own?" " Yes." "Why?" "If the pattern is at all consistent, you and your family may be in danger." "Based on what, the death of my adjutant?" "Just keep an eye on them." "Watch out for anything out of the ordinary." " Mulder, you're serious?" " This is a military base, Scully." "They've got security everywhere." "No one saw or heard a thing." "It's not so hard to believe." "Her screams would have been muffed." "There would be no fingerprints." "It also fits the M.O. of Lieutenant Colonel Stans' phantom killer." "Agent Mulder, what did you mean by that?" "It was just a word to the wise, sir." "No, I mean "anything out of the ordinary."" "Any unusual or unexplained phenomena." "Last night, I saw someone in my office." "He said my name, but when I turned around, he was gone." "Then, my phone machine went all snaky again." "Again?" "This happened before?" "No, not what I saw." "But the phone calls, yes." "Twice before at my home." "Mom, mail's here!" "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!" "Mom!" "What is it?" "What is it, honey?" " Mom, there was a man here." " Who?" "Oh, thank God you're home." "I was trying to reach you." "Trevor saw someone in the house just a few minutes ago." " Is he all right?" " He's in his room, but he's terrified." " I'm..." "I'm shaking myself." " These people are with the F.B.I." " Is it about the break-in?" " Why don't you check on Trevor?" " Why?" "What's happening?" " Frances, please." " We'll talk upstairs." "This way." "It just comes on." "The phone doesn't even ring." "At first, I thought it was a prank." " Did you save the other ones?" "No, I erased them." "I even called the phone company, had them check the line." "They checked the whole house." "They couldn't find anything wrong." "Have you noticed any other type of electronic interference," "Like the radio or the television?" "No." "Not a thing." "There's someone in the backyard." "I saw someone out here." "I'm sure of it." "Look." "You'd better call the police, General." "You're gonna feel a little stick here." "That's right." "I can't change the dosage." "There." "That's fine." "I'll be back in a minute." "That was too close, man." "I ain't doing it anymore." " What?" " I said I ain't doing it anymore." "You owe me, Roach." "I wouldn't be in this damn chair if it wasn't for you." "Hey!" "This isn't about you and me, man." "This is about all the grunts and all the crips... and all the boys who came home in a box." "The enemy must be defeated, and we're gonna do it." "You're gonna do your part, and I'm gonna do mine." "Nurse!" "Hey!" "What do you do, man, when I rap on the tank?" "Get some, get some, fire at will." "Good." "You're all right." "Nurse, come on!" "This is killin' me here!" "What a mess." "You've got to learn to sit still." "How about you never do it right?" "There." "That ought a hold it." " Find anything?" " No." "But I like the tune." "Well, we've been a bit luckier." "Whoever's targeted the general didn't just leave footprints." "They left fingerprints as well." "Really." "Where?" "Forensics just lifted two matching indexes and a thumb." "One on the mailbox and one on the door leading to the backyard." "We'd better go run 'em." "They're on their way to the N.C.I.C. as we speak." " F.B.I. Open the door!" " Hands up!" "Hands over your head!" " Don't shoot!" " Turn around!" " Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay." "Put your hands down behind your back." "Cuff him." "Quinton Freely, you are under arrest for suspicion of murder." "You have the right to remain silent." "Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court flaw." "If you want an attorney, we'll give you one if you don't have one..." ""Captain Janet Draper." "Staff Sergeant Kevin Aiklen." "Lieutenant Colonel Victor Stans."" "General and Mrs. Thomas Callahan." "We've got him, Mulder." "Watch your left flank there." "Okay." "Trevor?" "Hey, Trevor!" "We have enough evidence to place you at each of the crime scenes." "In addition to accessory to murder, you're looking at conspiracy, breaking and entering, commission of a felony on federal property..." " Can I get a cigarette?" " No." "We know you weren't acting alone." "We know you had an accomplice." "How did he do it, Quinton?" "I don't know." "I don't know what you're talking about." "How did he get past the guard?" "How did he kill him?" "Trevor was only eight years old." "I don't know." "I didn't kill anybody." "I'm just the mailman." "What does that mean, "you're just the mailman"?" "I'm Rappo's mailman." "Leonard Trimble, right?" "If that's the man they call Rappo." "That's him." "What's he done?" "He's a suspect in two homicides." "Rappo?" "You must be making some kind of mistake." "How's that?" "There." "See for yourself." "He's a quadruple amputee." "Damn it." "He lied to us." "He said he was the mailman." "What did he mean by that?" "I don't know." "I'm adding it to the list." "Are you coming?" "No." "I'll catch up with you later." "He knows this place." "He can find me here." "He knows this place!" "He's been here before!" "I'm not safe here!" " Hey, keep it down in there!" " Let me outta here!" "He's going to kill me!" "I'm a dead man!" "Let me out!" "Let me out!" "I'm not gonna tell you again." "He's gonna kill me!" "He's here!" "He's here!" "You don't wanna get him started again." "He was pretty worked up about an hour ago." "Not as worked up as I'm gonna be." "Visitor." "On your feet!" "God Almighty." "How did it happen?" "Suffocation." "The bed sheet was stuffed down his throat." " Nobody'd been in the cell with him?" " He did all it by himself." " Not likely." " Not likely?" "He had help, Scully." "And he wasn't lying because I think the man..." " that killed him was Leonard Trimble." " Rappo?" " Yeah." " He can't walk, let alone kill somebody." "You see this?" "This is a dental X-ray plate." "I know, you've been walking around with this since we got here." "The ones I've been walking around with I had developed at the hospital." "See, this is the one I was carrying when we first me Stans, this one in the rehab room, in the pool, in the general's office and this one at the general's house." " All exposed to some kind of radiation." " From what?" "From Stans' phantom soldier." "I came down here wondering if it could be true, if what Stans was describing was a case of astral projection." "What you're saying is this man, Rappo, is leaving his body and floating around town killing people?" "Practitioners claim that during a self-hypnotic trance, the astral body can actually detach itself and float virtually anywhere, sometimes invisible, but sometimes appearing as an apparition." "They even claim that the astral body has psychokinetic capabilities... far greater than the corporeal body." "Mulder..." "Then why would he need Quinton Freely?" "Maybe he needs a psychic connection to a place thing or object... a letter." " Quinton called himself the mailman." " It's insane." "Sometimes the only sane response to an insane world is insanity." " Know anything about backwards masking?" "You mean messages recorded backwards in songs?" "Yeah." "Or on the general's answering machine." "Check this out." "Your time has come, killer." "Your time has come." " Leonard Trimble?" " No, it's Fred Astaire." "Mr. Trimble, we'd like to ask you a few questions about Quinton Freely." " Roach?" "What's he done now?" " He's dead." "Oh." "Well, serves him right." " How's that?" " How's that?" "He turned me into second base by getting my arms and legs blown off." "Other than that, he was a real good guy." "Then why'd you kill him?" "What's wrong with this picture?" "We read your medical records, Leonard." "We know that you've refused all efforts at rehabilitation." "You've even refused to be fitted with prosthetic limbs." "Big deal." "Maybe I don't want any of that crap." "Maybe because you don't need it..." "Maybe because you don't need it... because you can leave your body any time you want." "Kill anybody you wanna kill." "If I could leave my body, I could think of something else I'd rather be doing." "Like kill General Callahan's boy?" "Lieutenant Colonel Stans' family?" "Sergeant Aiklen?" "You're a real trip." "Oh, I'm "a trip"?" "Because I figured you out?" "You're a soldier." "You knew what you were gettin' into when you enlisted." "You want to blame everybody else." "Why blame your C.O.s?" "I blame them for what happened to all of us." "You don't know what it was like." "You..." "You sat at home and watched the war... on cable TV like it was a damn video game." "You had no idea about the guys that died, about the blood in the sand, what it feels like when a hit comes." "The thing is, you just don't care, do you?" "You got your crude oil." "just change that station, right?" "Killer got his prime time." "L.C. got his fancy little medals." "Now take a good look at me." "What did I get?" "Nobody knows how I feel." "They took my life away." "Yeah, so you took theirs." "If I only could." "Now, if you're through questioning me, I'd like to get a little shut-eye." "No sleepwalking." "That's good." "I haven't heard that one yet." "Hardy-har-har." "What do you wanna do?" "Call General Callahan and warn him to stay out of his house." "Frances?" "Honey, leave that." "No, I know how it upsets you when his..." "toys are spread all over the place." "We can handle this, Frances." "I don't wanna handle this." "I want my son back." "Frances!" "Oh... my God." "No one's answering." "The machine's not picking up." " General?" " Lieutenant Colonel." " What are you doing?" " You were right, Victor." " He won't let you die." " Sir?" "He kills our wives and children, but he won't let us die." " I know who he is, General." "I know who he is." "General Callahan, sir." "I've been waitin' for you." "Who are you?" "One of your boys, General." "You killed my wife." "That's right, sir, I did." "And the boy too." "Come on, killer." "Come on, killer Callahan." "Get some!" "Get some!" "Come on, killer!" "Do it!" "Fire at will!" "Come on, killer." "Do it!" "What was that?" "Come on, killer." "You can do better than that!" "Come on!" "You're gonna suffer like the rest of us." "You think I'm gonna let it end this way?" "Do you?" "Is that what you think?" "General." "He wanted me to kill him." "I stood down." "I'm done here." "Scully?" "He's having some kind of a seizure." "No, I don't think so." "Nurse!" "General Callahan!" "Killer?" "Come on, killer." "Your time has come." "General Callahan!" "General Callahan!" "He's nonresponsive." "Come on." "Put him on the monitors and prep the crash cart." " He's going into cardiac arrest." " Okay." " And make sure the..." "Lieutenant Colonel!" "Get the keys." "We have to open the door." "Open the door!" "Lieutenant Colonel, open the door!" "General Callahan, are you hurt?" "I'm okay." ""No physical evidence was found linking Leonard Trimble... to the deaths of General Callahan's wife and son." "Officially, the investigation remains open." "The murders unsolved." "Leonard Trimble's family requested his burial at Arlington National Cemetery." "The army denied this request." "Trimble was cremated, his ashes interred... at a civilian cemetery in Tannersville, Pennsylvania." "Leonard Trimble's mission was not to kill his enemies, but to shatter their lives, to keep them alive, to suffer the pain he felt," " to see the view from his wheelchair." "Amputees sometimes feel the pain of phantom limbs, ghosts of hands still clenching, legs still aching." "Is it not possible that Trimble developed a phantom soul?" "A malevolent psyche took its violent revenge on those he held accountable." "It was war that destroyed Leonard Trimble's body." "But his wounds went deeper than the loss of his limbs." "What destroyed those parts of him that make us human beings, those better angels of our nature?" "I cannot say"." "supplied by CoBeR coberus@go2.pl"