r1-Chad-p4

"That's the way to the zoo,
That's the way to the zoo.
The monkey house is nearly full
But there's room enough for you.
Take a bus to Regent's Park,
Make haste before it shuts.
I'll come again on Monday
And I'll bring you lots of nuts."

~ unknown c. 1883

A whirlwind. That's what the past week had been, a virtual whirlwind. Leaving his makeshift quarters, medical student Wade du Prés (First Class) pondered the recent events that had catapulted him from the relative quiet of the medical university to this hole in the ground.

Passing along the tight corridors, he squinted in the harsh floodlights the military had erected at intervals along the wall. Pushing the reading glasses further up his nose, Wade held his clipboard close to his chest.

For his twenty-years, Wade had the fresh open-faced look of sixteen. Pushing his blonde hair behind his ears, he self-consciously eased past a group of soldiers marching by. The presence of so many members of the Consortium's Military made him nervous. Especially since the previous night. He'd been returning to his room, when he was stopped by two soldiers in an adjoining corridor. Their brawny frames blocked the passage, and there was no way around them. Wade swallowed hard as the nearest one had approached him.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" the soldier smirked. He was well over six-feet, with a mass of muscle beneath his combat fatigues.

"Looks like a tasty piece of medical meat to me, eh O'Brien?" his colleague replied, walking up and placing a large hand on Wade's quivering shoulder.

Having led a sheltered life in the university, Wade had only heard stories of the outside world. With most young women hauled off to the Consoritum Breeding Camps, men were forced to find gratification among each other. The miltary controlled everything, and it was death to defy them. Wade had known from an early age that he was attracted to men, but he'd never acted on it. He was too wrapped up in his studies to delve into pleasures of the flesh. And now here he was faced with it.

Before the two soldiers could act upon their desires, a bellow from General Kamarov echoed down the corridor, "First-Class du Prés!" He was a striking man in his mid-fifties, and seemed to instill fear in his troops. Thankfully, the general had only wanted to know the whereabouts of Dr. Gethin. Relaying the information as quickly as he could, the general had huffed and sent Wade on his way.

Wade's thoughts returned to the present. Hearing the soldiers' booted feet receding into the distance, Wade chastised himself for worrying. He was here to do a job, something he'd trained for most of his young life. Graduating at the top of his class, he'd immediately entered the study of cryogenics and bio-engineering. Handpicked from the university by Doctor Robert Gethin, Wade had found studying under his mentor to be a peaceful distraction. Although he was descended from the first families, Wade had lost his a long time ago. His sister Nicola had disappeared; rumoured to have been forcibly taken to one of the breeding camps. It was an established fate for young women with the right DNA. Wade's one and only wish was to earn enough money from the project to somehow find her.

The medical team had been hastily drafted into the Military Consortium's latest project. Dr. Gethin had insisted on Wade accompanying them; his expertise in cryogenics being needed. The first few days had been disorienting in the extreme. Dr. Gethin and the team had been rushed into the bowels of the excavated building. Everywhere Wade turned, he could hear General Kamarov barking orders to someone.

Viewing the cryogenic chambers for the first time had been awe-inspiring. While the medics went to work activating the revival process, Wade had been forced to stay in the back longing to take part. He consulted with Dr. Ignu and Dr. Gethin from time to time, taking notes all the while. When the process had been completed, Dr. Gethin briefed Wade on 'the subjects' condition. The word 'subjects' bothered Wade terribly. The same term they used for breeding camp 'volunteers'. It left a bad taste in his mouth. Wade prefered to call them by their names in any conversation.

Dr. Gethin had explained earlier that he was conscripted to appear before General Kamarov for a meeting. He was leaving the explanations up to Wade and Dr. Ignu. The subjects had been separated into different recovery rooms, in the hopes that it would be easier to explain their situation apart.

Heart pounding rapidly, Wade descended a flight of steps. The prospect of meeting someone who had successfully survived cryogenic sleep for three-hundred years filled his head with excitement. One thing troubled him: what was the Military Consortium's interest in all of this?

He soon found himself before the door to SUBJECT X-1. Sighing heavily, Wade checked his clipboard. Finding that Subject X-1 was Fox Mulder, he went over the speech he'd prepared one more time, then opened the door with the miliary slide card. A low hum emitted and the door slowly opened.

Stepping inside, the young student found the room filled with medical equipment, diagnostic computers, and one of the advanced hospital beds. Hearing the door lock behind him, Wade took a few tentative steps toward the bed. For some strange reason, he felt even more nervous than before. His green eyes moved up the length of the bed to the face of the figure lying upon it.

Fox Mulder's eyes flickered open, and his lips parted. "Where the hell am I?" he asked.

Wade felt his heart drop. Never in his life had he seen a more beautiful man. Feeling the clipboard slipping from his fingers, Wade grasped it tightly. "H-Hello," he stammered, completely forgetting his speech.

Mulder eyed the young man before him. He was little more than a boy, but at least he could talk. When he'd woken, Mulder had faced a group of strangers in white coats and jumpsuits. He'd been poked, prodded and stared at continuously. He was unable to speak at first, but when he finally found his voice, no-one would answer his questions. He began to wonder if he'd been trapped in an asylum with the patients n charge. Everything still seemed hazy, as if the past few days had been a waking nightmare. The one thing he remembered was the Smoking Man. Were these "doctors" in his employ?

Mulder tried to sit up, but his head weighed a ton. "How are you feeling?" the boy asked, full of concern.

"Like I've been hit by the world's biggest hangover, Mulder replied, dryly.

Wade regained his composure and checked Fox Mulder's vitals on a nearby computer screen. Mulder watched him carefully. "Who are you?"

"Wade du Prés," he answered, scribbling something on the clipboard. "I'm a first class student drafted with the medical team."

Mulder threw the starched sheets off the bed and tried to get up. A wave of dizziness overtook him. "Be careful!" Wade exclaimed, gently pushing him back down. As he started to covered Fox Mulder, he couldn't help but noticed the man's muscular legs. 'No deteroration there.' Wade shook his head to clear his thoughts.

Mulder reached out and took hold of his arm firmly. "Look, where am I? What's going on here?"

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Wade inhaled deeply. "Mr. Mulder, what is the last thing you remember?"

Mulder eased back into his pillow, concentrating on the vauge memories in his mind. He remembered tracking down CSM... Krychek was being held by CSM... A sharp pain... "It seems so far away," he admitted, biting his full, bottom lip.

"I don't know how to break this to you," Wade began.

"Gently," Mulder replied, with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

"You were placed inside a cyrogenic unit in the year 1999... which was approximately 314 years ago..."

-oo00oo-

General Andrei Kamarov watched the events unfold on a computer screen in his makeshift office. Hidden cameras were placed in both recovery rooms. Standing behind him, Dr. Robert Gethin smiled with satisfaction.

"The retrieval was a complete success," he whispered.

General Kamarov ignored him, and returned his attention to the screen. First Class du Prés was explaning the situation to a shocked Subject X-1, while Dr. Ignu entered the recovery room of Subject X-2. A sly grin spread across the general's features...

Amothea is next