MISPRISION

Misprision: (pronounced, miss-prizz-ee-on); adjective; Middle English, a mistake, misdirection or a misunderstanding, deliberate concealment or deflection in the release of information - from Old French 'mesprendre' to mistake, ... was still in common usage in 16th century England.

Chapter Ten

Having managed to get Mulder to apologise, however ungraciously, and then to leave, Conrad resumed his treatment of Alex. It was clear to him that he'd got himself into more than he'd bargained for when he'd become involved in Walter's 'little predicament'. He sighed. He'd known when he'd seen his friend's face that things were likely to be chaotic, but he'd never dreamed that anything so nefarious or disturbing as the consortium would be involved. Turning his attention back to the man in the bed he carefully examined him.

The man's head had been shaved and there were still two contact pads around the area of each temporal lobe. Gently he removed the pads and was relieved to see that there was no sign of burned tissue beneath them, obviously the electrodes that had been attached to these pads had not been used. Nevertheless he carefully applied a topical anaesthetic gel to each point. He winced as he checked the chest area, each nipple was red and raw. The probes he had removed from these had penetrated deeply into the chest muscles going vertically down through the nipple tissues. It was testament to his skill as a physician that Alex did not stir as he palpated the chest. This time though the inspection of the delicate aureolal tissue revealed a fair amount of internal damage which, if left untreated, would fester.

Cleansing the area carefully, Conrad applied the gel and dressings to the chest and noted that he would need to administer both antibiotics and anti-pyretic drugs to counter infection and fever. The damage at the navel was similar to that on the chest. When he reached the testicles he was alarmed to discover heat, pus and hardness in the tissue. The penis was similarly inflamed. This time Alex grimaced although, blessedly, he did not waken as Conrad checked the genitals as delicately as he could without compromising his examination. He decided that he would need ice to pack around the area, as well as topical antibiotics, to help reduce the heat and swelling. He had no way of knowing how long the probes and the catheter had been in place, but it was clearly more than a few days given the level of damage caused. If Alex had been subjected to such treatment over a prolonged period of time then he seriously feared for the man's mental, as well as physical. well being.

The tissue around the anus, where the largest probe had been, was torn and angry looking. There would be the need for a few stitches, at least, just for the external tears. Donning gloves, and using a generous amount of lubrication, he carefully worked a finger into the damaged anus and felt around the walls of the anal sphincter. As he had feared there were some deep tears here also, as well as some very spectacular blisters caused by the heat from the electricity that had been pulsing though the probe. The same would no doubt be true of the urethra, though examining that internally right now was out of the question.

Rarely had Conrad felt so angry at the condition of any patient. He had treated former prisoners of war after Vietnam, as well as Desert Storm and other undisclosed conflicts, but even they had not been used quite as callously by their captors as this man had. Conrad was also puzzled. If Alex Krycek had been a creature of the consortium, with all that Doggett and Walter had told him that signified, why had Spender deliberately inflicted such barbaric treatment on one of his trusted personnel? It just didn't fit.

Conrad Borrachio might be a medical man, but he was also a military man, both by training and instinct. To have merited such treatment from his 'own side', in his view, Alex Krycek would have had to commit the ultimate sin in any war - Walter had certainly described this as a war situation - the ultimate sin being to betray one's colleagues, or possibly also to actively join the opposition.

It seemed to him that, whatever his patient might have been guilty of in the past he had deliberately and actively chosen to renounce his past association with the consortium. Nothing else made sense. Add Spender's little speech to Alex as they had overheard it on the monitor, and he was convinced that he had made a correct assessment of the situation.

Taking his stethoscope he checked the lungs of his patient and frowned. There was an indication that fluid was collecting there. He knew that if Alex had been held in that chamber of horrors, unmoving, for any length of time then pneumonia was a serious risk. Whatever is was that Graaf and Spender had been doing it was clearly not with any view to Alex's well being, present or future. He hoped that he could manage to return his patient to health as quickly as possible, and as quickly as Walter was expecting. Clearly, Walter Skinner felt that Alex had vital information and that it was imperative to get that information without delay.

A door opened behind him and he turned to see the young woman Mulder had been with earlier entering the room.

"How is he?" She asked, her voice trembling a little and full of concern.

'He's been through a great deal and he will need some time to heal fully." Conrad said. "I'm afraid that he may develop a fever and he shows signs of respiratory infection. His wrist is broken and I need to set it, though it's strapped up for now, he has some internal burns and of course several bruises and contusions, as well as infection in his genitals. Given the circumstances in which we found him I'd really like to give him a more thorough examination to see what other internal damage may have been caused."

He paused and looked at her. As he had catalogued Alex's condition her colour had drained and she looked a little faint. Conrad kicked himself mentally. This woman was obviously someone who cared for Alex and he had run off at the mouth about his injuries and the prognosis as if she was one of his assistants and not someone with a personal involvement with his patient. However she soon pulled herself together.

"I see," she said, calmly, "if you need to make use of it there is all the medical diagnostic equipment you could need here in this facility. Graaf has the keys to most of the labs but we can easily make him give them up now that Spender is no longer in a position to give him orders."

"Thank you," Conrad said, "I would certainly like to x-ray Alex's hand, wrist chest and abdomen. His wrist is in need of a cast but I am loathe to put one on before I have examined the internal damage, I need to check the alignment of the bones and ensure there is no possibility of nerve damage before I do anything else. How open do you think Graaf will be to telling us exactly what he was doing to Alex and why?"

"Not very, probably a little too scared of Spender, though it wouldn't hurt to ask. However, there is also a constant recording of his 'experiments'. All you need do is play back the tapes and you'll have everything you need. Graaf also keeps meticulous written notes." Samantha said.

"On everything?" Conrad asked.

"Doctor, this is a state of the art medical research facility with all the necessary equipment for surgical procedures, testing, diagnosis and treatment. If we don't have it here, you don't need it. Everything done in this facility is recorded for posterity, and I mean everything, going back over fifty six years."

Conrad raised his eyebrows at that but decided to take her at her word.

"How familiar are you with medical procedures?" He asked.

"Unfortunately I am very familiar, especially within this facility. However, I think that right now I might be glad of some of the expertise I've gained if it will help you to help Alex."

"Indeed." Conrad said. "I am going to need some Erythromycin, Succinylsulphathiazole, Allantoin, Phenazone, Promethazine, and Zinc Oxide Powder as well as surgical swabs and alcohol wipes, syringes, sutures and anything else you might think is useful. Some more ice would be a good idea, and if there's any chance of moving Alex to a bed with hydraulic head and foot rests then please locate one. A fleece for the bed to help prevent the severe pressure sores he has already from becoming worse would be a boon too. We shall need to start IV fluids and some physical stimulation to promote and encourage good circulation and prevent muscle atrophy from becoming more pronounced. I'd like to run full scans of both toxicology and blood gases. So if you can manage all of that, and gain access to the records you spoke of then we should be in business."

"Right away doctor," Samantha said, "I'll get Fox and Agent Doggett to give me a hand with locating everything we need."

She seemed more relaxed now that she had something she could do to help.

"It's Conrad. " He insisted, smiling at her.

"And I'm Samantha." She replied.

"Thank you Samantha, I appreciate your help, and I think this young man will appreciate it too."

"It's no more than he deserves, after all he's done for me. I owe Alex more than I can ever repay." She said, giving the object of her concern an affectionate glance. Then she left the room.

Conrad sighed as he returned his attention to his patient. His skin colouration was much better, but the temperature was now 103.4 Fahrenheit, and rising. This was worryingly high. His greatest concern now, apart from respiratory problems, was that Alex's fever might increase to the point where febrile convulsions were not only possible but probable. If that happened, there was a great likelihood of brain damage being caused.

Taking surgical alcohol wipes from his jacket, he bathed Alex's extremities in an effort to cool him a little. The sooner he could start a proper course of treatment, with analgesics and anti-pyretics, the happier he'd be.

Carefully, he propped Alex up with extra pillows. In lieu of an adjustable bed this was at least something that would help ease his breathing. As he worked to make his patient more comfortable his mind was busy working on figuring out the purpose of this facility. It seemed fairly clear that it was something to do with producing either a genetic or an anti viral defence against whatever the 'aliens' Walter had spoken of were intending to unleash on the unsuspecting population of the world.

The problem seemed to be the methods they were prepared to use to obtain that defence. Somehow he doubted Spender's altruism. From what he'd seen and heard of the man so far he was fairly sure that Spender's circle of inclusion, with regard to defence against alien attack, was pretty small. In fact he was sure such a cirlce amounted to just one person, Spender himself. Conrad tried to imagine the mind set necessary to accept the Spender's methods, and failed.

Taking a deep breath, he refocused on the task in hand checking for an aortic pulse he found that it, at least, was fairly even and within normal parameters. The rapid fluttering pulse he'd encountered in his primary examination had now calmed. This was a relief. He knew they were not out of the woods yet, but any sign of progress was welcome. He'd be happier though if he could assure himself that there were no serious internal injuries as yet undetected.

As he continued to check over his patient he noted the old scars on Alex's body. The large jagged scar on the torso was the most prominent, he could easily understand why anyone who had seen it would remember it and instantly be able to identify it. There were other scars, as deep and as old, all over the body. Judging by the way the skin had grown around the scarred tissue, a large number of the scars must have been caused when this man was just a boy.

The amputation site above the left elbow was a mess too. The scar tissue was still red and angry looking, yet clearly the arm had been lost a while ago, at least ten months or more by his judgment. Where the probe had been inserted into the puckered mass, there were blisters. Conrad dressed the arm and added a sterile bandage to hold it in place. As he completed this work Samantha returned pushing a trolley with equipment. She was not alone. Agent Doggett was with her.

Conrad was pleased to see that Fox Mulder was not among their party. Whatever the problem between Mulder and his patient he would prefer it if it could be kept out of his treatment room. The last thing Alex needed was to be beaten further after all the trauma he had been through, no matter how much Mulder might think he deserved it. Carefully ensuring that Alex was stable and adequately covered by the bedclothes he turned his attention to the bounty which Samantha and Agent Doggett had procured for him.

Mulder looked at Spender in disgust. The older man had a disturbing knack of making him feel somewhat like a small bug under a microscope. Every encounter they'd ever had, had left him feeling more and more convinced that he'd been deliberately used, that the truth had been carefully concealed whilst apparently being revealed in all its glory. Now Mulder was anxious to get some answers, now that he finally had the bastard where he wanted him, but of course it would be too simple to expect Spender to co-operate.

The last encounter they'd had was somewhat blurred in his mind. He still had trouble recalling exactly what had occurred. He knew he had been in a facility not unlike this one, and some kind of procedure had been performed. Spender had been involved in the procedure, that much he remembered, but what had been done to him still remained a mystery. Of course, there was also the fact of what had happened to him after he had been abducted. Whilst he was certain Spender knew about that also, his questioning and his hypothesis on these topics had been met only with dismissal from his adversary.

The bland intonation of Spender's "Is that what you think?" in response to his last speech had infuriated Mulder. He was rapidly losing his cool which made him furious with himself. He didn't know how Skinner did it. Over all the years he'd worked with the man he'd rarely ever seen him lose control. He regularly felt like a floundering fool whilst his former boss radiated a quiet air of confidence. He had to admit, yet again, that he was completely at a loss here. There seemed to be nothing he could do or say that had any effect on Spender, no threat that he could make. Unfortunately Spender knew it.

"Is that all?" Spender said, smirking at Mulder, his smile seeming more of a threat now than a sign of pleasure.

"Not by a long shot you venal old bastard." Mulder said hotly.

"Really Fox, is that any way to speak to your Father?" Spender responded. "Surely your Mother brought you up better than that?"

"You're not my Father!" Mulder screamed, punching the wall behind him in his rage.

"Is that what you think? You keep saying it, but you don't seem very convinced somehow."

Mulder refused to look at Spender any longer, he turned to Skinner.

"This is pointless," he said, "why are we wasting time on this piece of shit?"

"I agree," Skinner said, "I think we'd have more success talking to the 'estimable' Doctor Graaf. Alternatively of course there are, apparently, some exceedingly detailed records in this facility which could save us a great deal of time. That being the case I think we might find that certain people have outlived their usefulness."

Mulder was interested to see that Spender blanched a little at Skinner's speech. Maybe the old man was not invulnerable after all. He didn't know why he always felt so damned idiotic whenever they met, but he was grateful, for once, that he and his companions had the upper hand. He nodded at Skinner.

"OK, so what are we waiting for?" He said. "Let's go and talk to the good doctor."

"I'll be right with you." Skinner said, pulling a pair of handcuffs out.

An admiring grin passed across Mulder's face. His ex-boss might normally be quiet and restrained, but his years of experience with the tricky nature of Spender meant he was taking no chances.

"Good thinking." He said, as he left the room.

"Perhaps you should reconsider this." Spender said as Skinner snapped the cuffs closed.

One of his wrists was now cuffed to the wheel of his chair, Skinner having noted that the arms of the chair were easily removable.

"Oh I don't think so." Skinner said, quietly. "I rather think that your time is up. This is one time you don't get to win. Don't think that I intend to go easy on you because you are old and ill either. You've never shown any one mercy simply because they were weaker than you."

"I'm shocked Mr Skinner. I thought you were a man of integrity, a man of honour, a man of the law. Surely you can't mean to subvert that, everything you've ever stood for, by taking the law into your own hands now?"

"If I do, it will be because you and your kind have already subverted the forces of law, order and justice to the point where those words, those concepts, no longer have any real meaning." Skinner said, giving his prisoner a hard glare, his dark brown eyes betraying no warmth at all. Then he turned and left Spender alone in the room, taking care to ensure that the door was securely locked behind him.

end of chapter 10

Chapter Eleven

Many thanks to Ursula for sterling efforts to kill the typo....above and beyond the call of duty. Any mistakes still remaining are my fault not hers.

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