Frozen in Time
Round Five, Part 2

They made love with a kind of desperation brought on by the awareness that this could be the last time that they were alone together, their joint orgasm leaving them gasping for breath. A quick swipe with a discarded undershirt, and they lay quietly in each other's arms, not wanting to let go, yet knowing that all too soon they would have to leave to do battle for their world.

With Alex's head resting on his shoulder, Mulder had almost drifted off to sleep when a deep sigh from his lover broke the silence. He peered down to see a deep crease over Alex's nose, indicating the depth of his thoughts. He turned his heard further and kissed the tip of the endearing nose.

"What's the matter, love?" he asked quietly.

Alex's eyes flicked up to meet his lover's, and gave a wry smile. "Am I making a mistake, Fox? Should I have listened to those who begged me to stay behind?" He sighed again. "Maybe Jackson was right and I'm letting my ego get in the way of my common sense."

Mulder raised an eyebrow. "What brought this on?"

"I was just thinking.... I've spent hours recording information which isn't in their files... information about what projects the consortium were working on; especially which ones would benefit those who have survived, but I'm worried they don't have the expertise to fully utilize these opportunities. Their level of knowledge is low in so many necessary areas... so much has been forgotten."

Mulder carded his fingers through the thick, sable hair, trying to sooth Alex's fears. "We'll just have to be extra careful, Alex. We have our own, personal bodyguards; we'll be wearing body armour and helmets, and any cuts and scrapes will be dealt with by the nanocytes." He sighed "...and, having thought about it a great deal while lying here, I agree that you DO need to be on the spot to make tactical decisions. You'll also be needed to take charge of the Dome's defences in case of a counter attack; to meet with the resistance people from the Dome... all things that no one else can do for you."

Alex, his eyes bright, caught hold of Fox's hand, giving it a light kiss. "Fox, I.... Thanks...."

Fox held on to Alex's hand and brought it to his mouth, sucking gently on the fingers, letting go with a pout as the reminder that Alex had set pinged to let them know that they had one hour to get washed and dressed.

Alex levered himself up, kissed the pout on his lover's face. "Hold that thought," he said as he moved away from the bed towards the bathroom.

Mulder paused to admire the lithe body as it moved away from him, then he too got to his feet and followed his lover into the shower. Alex, who was adjusting the water temperature, raised an eyebrow, but Mulder just grinned. "I know. We don't have time... but I thought, since I missed so much of the planning session, you could bring me up to date with what was decided. I know you're worried about something, so tell me..."

Alex got under the spray of water and started soaping himself, while Mulder picked up the razor to have a shave.

"Okay, It'll make it easier if both of us know.... The most difficult part was persuading these guys that we had to carry out coordinated attacks on the city domes around the world." He sighed. "The want me to lead them... but when I put the plan forward they argued against it until I reminded them that we really do have only one chance at this... if we screw up we don't have the reserves to try again.

"Fortunately for us, the Consortium military are still arguing about the fine details of how they mean to crush the resistance.... making lots of stirring speeches apparently... our advantage is not going to last long." He paused while he rinsed the soap out of his hair.

"We have coordinated the timing of the raids so that most of them start under cover of darkness. The only ones I'm really worried about are those in the daylight zones.... the Western Australian domes are a particular worry... but they say they have people in place to carry out a partial takeover the night before, isolating the city from contacting anyone for the crucial hours until it's sunset in Arizona... That makes it after dark for the rest of the US domes, especially New England and Atlanta; for all the domes in Central and South America; plus those in Africa, Europe and most of Asia."

He got out of the shower and rubbed his hair vigorously as Fox took his place under the running water.

"As far as we are concerned, we get into position tonight, during the day tomorrow, those going though the tunnel to the city will make their way to the rooms under the central park. Frankie, and her people, will collect a few at a time and disperse groups throughout the city posing as maintenance engineers.

"At sundown, all outside working parties will go back inside the domes. Just before the start away from their work areas, we plan to take them prisoner. Our troops will then walk inside as if they were the working party. The last team in will take out the gate guards and defend out rear. Doctors Gethin and Elliot have arranged for quite a few archaeological teams will be out, so we will join them on their return journeys. They will jettison their supplies and carry as many of our troops into the city as they can.

"As soon as we give the signal, they will start their takeover from the inside. While we control the hangar our enemies will not be able to use any of the craft to either attack us, or to flee. There's still a lot of things that can go wrong, but we have dedicated professionals on our side, while most of those we will be facing are conscripts." He stopped to stare at the fingertips of his left hand with a wry smile on his face. "I wonder if the old man realized that he was sending the downfall of his plans into the future when he put us into those chambers?"

Mulder laughed. "I wouldn't put anything past that old coot." He stepped out of the shower and grabbed the other towel. "C'mon, let's get dressed and get to our stations. The sooner you get something to do, the sooner you'll stop worrying."

"'Kay." Alex muttered as he stretched his neck to scrape the last bristles from beneath his chin, his eyes following his lover's movements in the mirror.

-oo0oo-

Around the globe the resistance forces got into position during the hours of darkness... then all they could do was wait. Those in the lower ranks, not knowing of the events taking place around the world, were able to relax while not on guard, and if they noticed that their commanders were extra tense, they put it down to the importance of their raid on the domed city.

The archaeological transports reported that they had unloaded their cargoes of extra supplies, leaving the foodstuffs with the Nomads to ensure that they would not be anywhere near the domed city whilst their attack was taking place.

The tense atmosphere in the command centre visibly lessened when their contact in Australia reported that their mission to gain control of communications and transport had been successful. Her report was closely followed by similar reports from China, Japan and New Zealand, they too were on schedule.

Then came a wait of a few hours until the single dome on Hawaii reported a successful takeover.

At that point Alex allowed himself a tight smile. "We're next," he said, even though he knew he was stating the obvious. "So, who's NOT nervous?"

Muffled laughter came from various parts of the cavern. Even Jacqueline, who was acting as their communications coordinator, smiled at the weak sally. Then she became serious, "I've just had another report from Morrison's group. They now have more than half of their team secreted throughout the city, which is far higher than we had hoped." She cocked her head to one side, obviously listening, then went on, "The anit-surveillance team report that the cameras covering this sector are now showing a tape from yesterday, so it's safe for us to move forward."

-oo0o-

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