PIPER MARU

             The source of their exposure is still undetermined - symptoms are somatic although I don't think                               we have seen the worst of it.....

On a French vessel in the Pacific Ocean a diver, Gauthier, heads down into the water, finding a sunken plane from World War II. He is shocked to find a living man in the cockpit of the plane, with a black oil like substance in his eyes. Gauthier is later brought back to the surface, with the same black oil within his eyes.

Assistant Director Skinner calls agent Scully to see him, telling her that it has been five months since any leads in the case involving the murder of her sister Melissa, and that the case has been made inactive. Scully is upset, given the evidence that had been recovered. She goes down to the basement to see partner Mulder who tells her about the french ship the Piper Maru, which was brought into port in San Diego at the same coordinates as the ship Talapus, which was believed to have salvaged a U.F.O. in the previous episode Nisei. The crew of the ship was found suffering from severe radiation burns except for one man, Gauthier, who was released. Mulder and Scully visit the ship, finding a black oily substance on Gauthier's diving suit. Scully recognizes the World War II plane on a video left on the ship. Meanwhile Gauthier returns home, looking for something. When his wife Joan comes home, she finds him acting weirdly. She leaves minutes later, with the black oil now in her eyes.

Scully visits the Miramar Navy Base to visit an old friend of her father's, Major Johanson. Johanson claims to not know anything about the missing plane. Mulder meanwhile visits Gauthier's home, finding the place a mess and Gauthier passed out on the floor with an oily substance all over him, having no memory of what happened. Mulder finds a letter from a salvage broker he suspects is involved, and visits the broker's 'secretary' Jeraldine. Mulder follows her after she leaves. Scully is stopped by Johanson as she is about to leave the base and he admits that after World War II he was sent to find a sunken plane aboard the submarine Zeus Faber. He recalls how many aboard the submarine suffered from radiation burns and he was involved in a mutiny against his captain, who also had the black oil in his eyes.

Scully provides Mulder with the information while he follows Jeraldine to Hong Kong. Joan also heads there. In Hong Kong Mulder finds Jeraldine, who is revealed to be the salvage broker, someone who has been acting as a middleman to sell government secrets. Mulder handcuffs himself to her and gets her to bring him to her office, where Alex Krycek waits inside, having been selling the contents of the digital tape. Krycek escapes out the window while Jeraldine is shot by a group of men coming down the hallway. Mulder unlocks the handcuffs and escapes. Joan walks down the hall and encounters the men, creating a flash that causes them all to suffer from radiation burns.

Eating at a restaurant he regulars, Skinner is confronted by the Gray Haired Man and other men not to pursue Melissa Scully's case any further. He is later shot by Luis Cardinal, when he tries to stop the man from harassing the cashier of the restaurant. Scully is contacted regarding his shooting. Krycek is caught by Mulder in an airport and Mulder demands he give him the digital tape. Krycek tells him the tape is in a locker in Washington D.C. and that he'll give it to him in exchange for letting him go. Mulder lets Krycek go to the bathroom to clean the blood from his face. Inside he is confronted by Joan. He departs the bathroom to leave with Mulder, now with the black oil in his eyes.

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