From: daphne@xfilesfan.com To: upyours1013@rock.com Subject: The Utopia (revised) ;;grin;; Date: Friday, January 01, 1999 10:23 PM The Utopia (version two) Pandora2 daphne@xfilesfan.com TR UST/RST MSR Alternate universe Spoilers: James Gurney's 'Dinotopia' Mulder and Scully are shipwrecked in a strange place where humans and dinosaurs live side by side in perfect…harmony? Disclaimers: Mulder and Scully belong to Chris Carter The story and idea of Dinotopia belong to James Gurney The characters that I've borrowed from Dinotopia are not mine The characters which I have made are my own. (…well maybe not all of them…) *few seconds pass* …oh alright. I've practically copied the damn book and twisted it to fit my own evil plot. Forgive me father for I have sinned ;) I might as well admit that I don't rightfully own anything in this story *sigh*. This story is NOT a sequel to my other The Utopia story; this is a second copy, completely different. You don't have to read the other story to understand this one, but I'd appreciate it if you compared the two and told me which one's better. You might like to read the actual Dinotopia books, to get a picture of the places in this story (the books have really neat pics!) Y'all can see my other fics at my page: http://members.tripod.com/~pandorabox_2/index.html Timeline: Everything up to Emily (S5) Movie hasn't happened. Etc. I want feedback. Gimme. Gimme. Gimme. Please. J Sit back, relax, take a break every ten minutes, focus on something green, sit straight, and enjoy the story! ******************************************************** The Utopia Pandora2 daphne@xfilesfan.com ******************************************************** January 10 1998 Time unknown Somewhere Two human forms lay on the fine white sand bordered on one side by a thick jungle forest and the other, the great rolling ocean. Dana Scully came slowly into consciousness after her rough encounter with the sea. Her blue eyes searched her surroundings. Each of her senses slowly came back to her. Underneath her cheek she could feel smooth sand, her eyes saw the lush jungle and the clear blue sky. She wondered what she was doing, lying on the sand, in front of a jungle.... ** I felt myself being pulled towards the ground from my peaceful, floating state high above the clouds. My body turned itself back on, function by function. I coughed, my lungs ached and my throat was dry. Slowly, my vision came back into focus as I pried my eyes open, squinting at the bright sunlight. I looked around myself, moving my head. Ocean to my left, dense forest to my right. Fine sand beneath my cheek. I let out a groan, I couldn't remember much. How did I get here? What was I doing on a beach? As far as I was concerned, I was supposed to be on a military ship, conducting an undercover investigation. I closed my eyes and opened them again, hoping for the metallic surroundings of the cramped battleship. No such luck. I was still surrounded by sun, sea, forest and sand. I rolled over gingerly, my shirt collar rubbed against my neck. I was going to have a killer sunburn later. I lay on my back, staring up at the small puffy clouds, and tried to recall how I arrived on this beach. Bits and pieces came back to me, flowing slowly like treacle or honey. Sitting on my bunk above Mulder, arguing over some small detail in the case. A storm raging outside our porthole. A loud bang, followed by a shudder coming from down the corridor. Silence. The overhead lights flickering out, a moment of panic and then red safety lights going on. An emergency siren wailing, footsteps pounding, Mulder's shocked face as we realised our ship was sinking. In the middle of nowhere, no help nearby. As cliche as Titanic. I remembered our hurried race to get to the top deck, being bundled with my partner into a liferaft along with other men and women. Battling against the monstrous waves caused by the rough storm to get away from the sinking vessel. A moment of horror as a wave loomed over the flimsy floaty we were in. Panic as we overturned, Mulder shouting out my name. Struggling in the water to stay afloat, and a sharp, sudden pain. Semiconsciousness, a vague awareness of being lifted up by an animal of some kind. An animal with a fin…a shark maybe? No, it can't be a shark. Sharks aren't nice. I grasped the fin with all the strength I could muster, and let myself by carried away by the animal. I felt myself sinking into unconsciousness as the animal I was clinging to slowed down. I felt wet sand between my toes. Land. Blessed land. The last thing I was aware of before darkness claimed me was a mans shaking arms dragging me ashore. So where is Mulder? I thought. Daring to hope, I turned over onto my stomach again and looked in front of me. Sure enough, I was not alone on the beach. The man who dragged me ashore lay still a few feet away from me. Mulder? I rasped, willing it to be him. Concluding he was unconscious, I got up on all fours, despite the angry protests of my tormented limbs. I crawled shakily over to the man and studied his face. Thank god! It was indeed Mulder. His face was sunburnt and he had a small cut over his eye. I leant down and put my ear to his mouth. He was alive. He was breathing. I lifted a hand and shook his shoulder gently. I called his name, trying to wake him. Mulder opened his eyes and squinted. "Scully?" he asked in a small voice. I nodded, giving him my special hospital smile. "Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling?" I asked. Mulder gave me his best grin and said "I feel like shit, Scully. How 'bout you? Are you okay?" I resisted the urge to laugh and told him I was fine. He gave me a look that told me he didn't believe me but didn't pursue the subject. Instead, he stood up gingerly and helped me up. He didn't seem at all fazed that we were shipwrecked on an island in the middle of nowhere. He swallowed and rubbed his forehead. "Are you thirsty?" he asked, and looked around, finally taking in our surroundings and connecting the dots. "Where the hell are we anyway?" I shrugged and answered truthfully, "I haven't a bloody clue." Anyhow, we started walking gingerly down the beach on shaky legs. Instead of maintaining our normal distance we held hands. I don't know why. But it was comforting nonetheless. We stopped suddenly as we came across some footprints…or rather clawprints in the sand. They were odd. They were arranged in groups of two like letters and in lines like words. Each 'word' was spaced out like a sentence. The prints were much to large to belong to a seagull, and far too big to belong to an ostrich. Besides, ostriches didn't live near the coast. I looked up at Mulder and saw the glint in his eyes. "What do you think they are?" I asked him, fearing his answer only slightly. He knelt down, joints popping and ran a finger along the edge of the print. "I'm not sure Scully," he said to me, he took a few moments thought and decided. He turned to me with that annoying look that screamed a paranormal theory was just around the bend. "But I think these prints belong to a dinosaur." 'Alright' I thought, 'He's really lost it this time. That journey in the water must have been more traumatic than I'd originally thought.' I didn't say that of course, I merely gave him an unbelieving look and continued walking. All at once Mulder put a restraining hand on my shoulder and hissed, "Scully, listen!" >From some distance in the Forest came a series of low, sustained houtings-or perhaps they would be better described as bellowings-and then again silence. I glanced at him, and we waited, tense and ready for something to happen. Silence. Eventually, urged forward by our mutual need to escape the sweltering sun, we crept cautiously into the forest, looking around us every second. We came upon a medium sized, grassy clearing and looked around. I turned to Mulder and said. "Should we be thinking about our shelter for tonight? Because if we are, I think here would be a good place." Mulder kicked at a stone and surveyed the scenery. "Yeah." He said, "Lets camp here, we'll have to make a fire to keep animals away though, those bellows didn't sound at all friendly to me." I nodded, and we set about making a camp. We had just started a nice campfire going when a creature appeared-hog sized but somewhat resembling an iguana. I blinked, shaking my head. It couldn't be… A dinosaur. Protoceratops if Year Ten science served me correctly. I stepped backwards, and touched Mulder's shoulder. "Uh…Mulder?" I asked, trying not to sound nervous, "Um…can you see what I can see?" Mulder laughed, and looked into my eyes, he didn't believe me, but this was partially because he hadn't looked yet. "Mulder, I'm serious. Look," I pointed towards the dinosaur, "Can you see it too? Or am I delirious." I guessed the answer was no, as my partners jaw dropped open in surprise. "Holy…" he whispered, yanking me behind him, in some weird belief that I'd be safer there. The Protoceratops Circled us, squawking like a parrot through its beaklike mouth. "Be still, maybe it can only sense movement." I agreed quickly, and we both stood as still as statues. Looking back on that, we must've looked comical. Standing straight and silent, eyes wide with contained fright. The dinosaur took a step forwards and held up it's foot as if looking for a meal. We both stepped backwards cautiously, it stepped forwards, raising its foot again. I picked up a rock, lying conveniently by my foot and took aim. As the 'Ceratops took another step forward, I threw the rock; hitting it square on the leg. It stumbled and fell, letting out a loud, anguished squeal. Instantly, the bellowing began again. Only now, it was much closer. We looked at each other and stared at the foliage around us. Within seconds the forest erupted with a horde of dinosaurs we made a run for the path, but found ourselves surrounded on all sides by various species of Dinosauria. All displaying club tails, spikes and spines. We were obviously being threatened. "Welcome to Jurassic park. Part Three." Mulder muttered as we stared at the menagerie in awe. I was about to reply, when to my utter amazement, a girl about my size emerged from behind the largest Dinosaur and soothed it with whistles, cooing noises, and gestures. She then approached the injured reptile and made a bandage from her white head-dress. I was struck dumb. She spoke to us in a reproachful tone, in a language I had never heard before. I tried some of the languages I knew, to see if she'd understand any. "Pardonnez moi, mademoiselle…er….Entschuldigung?,…..Hello. How are you?…" To no avail, although she cocked her head at a word or two, as if she understood something. Or maybe she just thought I was mad. However, her main concern was the injured animal, who seemed to be making an exaggerated fuss over such a small injury. Meanwhile, we kept a wary eye on the larger Dinosaurs, who kept up a constant rumbling and shifting about us. At last, the Protoceratops, which had been watching us intently, squawked out something sounding like; "Aank- aayyank-leesh. Yank ank kee." This was followed by a lively exchange of hoots, rumbles, head-bobbing and foot stomping, until suddenly the little dinosaur was lifted onto the back of another Dinosaur and was carried off; followed by the rest of the reptilian giants. Leaving us alone with a club tailed Dinosaur and the girl, who beckoned us to follow. Both Mulder and I were tired, not only from our watery ordeal but from the shock we had just suffered. Together we trudged along behind the red-haired girl and the Dinosaur, too weary to make conversation. The forest soon gave way to pastureland and the sun was beginning to set in the sky, the first few stars of the evening started to shimmer shyly against the still blue sky. I looked down at my feet to the road I was walking on. It was dusty, and well packed down. It was wider than any road or highway I'd ever seen in my life, at least seven landrovers could fit across it, bumper to bumper with space to spare. There were wheel ruts at least fifteen feet apart, accompanied by prints of large, five and four toed giants. The girl led us to the heart of a large ranch, where we could see dinosaurs coming and going from high stone doorways. The building was well….huge. It had a thatched roof and walls of stone. A large windmill jutted out into the sky, turning slightly in the faint breeze coming from the coast. There was a turret-type thing on the end of the roof opposite the windmill, inside it I could see a large, glowing pink stone. I wondered what it could possibly be. As we drew nearer to the 'house', I noticed that the dinosaurs- of which had recently threatened us, were allowed to run free with out any fence or harness. And were treated with utmost courtesy and kindliness from the people. At the ranch, the girl introduced herself as Fionna, and her parents as Giorgio and Maia Romano. We introduced ourselves with our full names, and were welcomed warmly by Fionna's kind parents. It turned out that they are workers in what has turned out to be a dinosaur hatchery, working from dawn 'till dusk tending to the precious eggs. Maria took a liking to Mulder, fussing and clucking over him like a mother hen. Giorgio, with immense care, arranged a nest shaped bed for our sleeping comfort. On the third hair ruffle, Giorgio came back telling us that our bed was ready. Mulder stood up, probably grateful to get away from the lively and yet…binding presence of Maria Romano. By evening, we had eaten, bathed and retired gratefully to bed. ************************************************* So now I'm lying here, not wanting to wake up completely, wondering where our adventure will take us today. There is an insistent nudging against my cheek. A nose, scaly, pointed and cool. "Mulder?" I ask sleepily, still not opening my tired eyes. The nose grunts. Since when did Mulder start grunting? I open my eyes and nearly fall out of the bed in surprise. A green, short nosed dinosaur is standing beside me, its wrinkled eyes blinking occasionally. Keeping my sight on the innocent looking reptile, I use an arm to wake my partner. He groans, and scratches his chest. I hate that in a guy. Anyway, Mulder sits up and stares at the Dinosaur in shock. He puts his arm across my front and moves me closer to him. "Uhm…" he stammers, "Uh…don't make any sudden moves…er we…uh don't want to startle it." The Dinosaur seems to grin at us and then nudges my shoulder. I hold my breath. I edge closer to Mulder and stare at it with frightened eyes. It nudges me again but I don't move. Finally it gives up with a shake of its scaly head and leaves us, going back to wherever it came from. I let out the breath I was holding and look at my partner, he was as scared as me. Suddenly I laugh at our situation, the silliness of it all. "What?" Mulder asks, "What's so funny?" "This." I say, spreading my arms to show him the room. I go to the small window and fling it open, gesturing outside at the humans and Dinosaurs working and walking side by side. "And this! Everything! What the hell's happening Mulder? Why are there dinosaurs walking around as if they never died out in the first place? Why are the people here so easily accepting that fact? Why are you accepting that too?" I'm ranting, and I know it. The stress of yesterday has caught up with me and I feel like I'm gonna cry. Mulder draws me closer and gives me a rare hug. He tells me to calm down and let it out. He can tell I'm holding tears. I don't cry though, I just rest my head upon his lap and close my eyes, willing my worries away. "Hey Scully," he says gently, "It'll be okay. Think of this as an adventure. Just go with it…" he pauses, "except maybe when there's a great big Dinosaur standing right in your face." I smile at his little joke, feeling better already. I unlatch myself from his side and crawl out of our large bed. Someone has thoughtfully left some woolly slippers for us. "C'mon partner," I say, "Let's see if there's any breakfast yet, I'm starved." We go. ******************************************************* Mulder's clothes were washed of salt and returned to him, a little worse for wear, but acceptable. My suit however, suffered a different fate, it was far too ruined to wear again, so I was given a dress of cotton fashioned like those of the early nineteenth century. With a tie just underneath the bust. It made me look pregnant, Mulder thought it looked great. The people of this land have not yet discovered the benefits of lingerie and underwear, so I kept my underthings from yesterday and wore them again. I'll have to get them washed sometime. At breakfast I sat next to Mulder along with the rest of the Romano family. Living with your extended family is a common practice here, evidently. We were introduced to a man named Alec Orchardwine, which I thought sounded like a name for a mouse in a childrens book. Anyhow, he could speak English, which was of course, a great benefit to both of us. He searched the air above his head for words and said something like "Wilcome Newcomers." Then he gestured to a picture of a dolphin as if to say that we had arrived here that way. He referred to himself as "Fifteen mothers English." Which I understand meant that his ancestors landed on these shores fifteen generations ago, or about four-hundred years. From this man we learnt that we are on an island called Dinotopia, and that all humans here are descended from shipwrecked men and women, brought to safety by the dolphins. We talked with him for a while over a breakfast of juice, tea, bread, soup and nuts. No milk, no meat and no eggs. ** After breakfast, the fair skinned Fionna- girl takes us on a tour of the extensive ranch. I fear the tour would've been better had there not been the language barrier between us. Mulder and I took much pleasure and excitement in exploring the enormous and airy chambers of the great farm. The people here seem less advanced than the rest of the world. From what I have seen so far, I would say they are only as advanced as man had been say, in the nineteenth century. The scientist inside me was awoken by the living splendour of the giant reptiles lumbering around us. The first place we went to was the nesting room; the equivalent of a birthing room in a hospital. Pregnant dino-mothers, as I have named them, sat calmly in raised pits of earth. I watched, in disbelief as one of the mothers gave birth to three very large eggs. The eggs were quickly and carefully transported in wheelbarrows filled with hay to an incubation room. It was toasty warm in the incubation room, apparently the sex of the developing embryos are destined by temperature changes. Warm temperatures results in males, and cooler temperatures give females. While I was committing myself to these new scientific breakthroughs, Mulder, the child that he always has been, was off in the corner fiddling with the large pipe organ designed for dinosaurian feet. I did not believe he could be so insanely silly, but at the same time, it was endearing. He turned around and called to me once while I was watching the eggs being turned so that he could show me the tune he had managed to conjure on the instrument. I rolled my eyes and favoured him with a small smile. The children of the hatchery workers help to look after the eggs, as they are precious to the mother dinosaurs as newborns are precious to human mothers. Who would've thought dinosaurs were so civilised? The sudden noises of excitement the children started making drew me over to the barrow of eggs they were watching. One of the eggs was cracking, small 'peep! peep!' noises were emitting from it. I called Mulder over, we watched with excitement as a small, wrinkled baby Miasaurus cracked its way out of its constricting shell. One of the children, a boy, put a puppet of a Miasauruses head on his hand and talked to the baby. I understand that this was to imprint the correct parent model on the baby so that it would not be confused. A young girl with dark eyes like Mulder's lifted the infant out of the cart and offered it to me. I declined, of course. She then offered it to Mulder, who in turn took the baby and look very green. We all laughed at the sight of him, holding the baby reptile away from him as if it were a poisonous snake. Mulder would make the sweetest father, I thought, holding baby with wide eyes and…I squashed those thoughts down before they went on a rampage. Next up we were shown the signal tower, the one with the glowing stone that had so caught my attention the evening before. The rock was quartz, by the way it was scratched by the metal of my cross pendant. Also the way it looked…anyhow, the next thing we saw was the human sleeping quarters, for the twelve, full time workers here at the hatchery. The beds were similar to the one Mulder and I had been given, nest shaped and high off the ground. We were shown the windmill, and the paddock…the childrens play area, many things. I spoke with a shy child, she was ever so cute. She was playing on a weird contraption that moved on wheels. "Hey." I said, smiling at the child. She smiled back cautiously…a small smile that reminded me of my own dear Emily. "What's that you're playing with?" I asked, touching the wood of her toy. "Lambeosaurocycle." She said in a baby voice, understanding my query somehow. "Oh," I said, "How silly of me, it is too!" standing back, I saw that it was indeed a tricycle modelled in the likeness of a Lambeosaurus. The girl giggled merrily and rode her toy in a circle to show me. I clapped when she was done, she stood and bowed, and then waved goodbye. I waved too, and wandered off elsewhere. **************************************************** Now I sit with Mulder under a shady tree in the warm sun. Watching contentedly as the workers take a break for lunch and expectant dino-moms lumber around outside, grazing on the spindly grass that grows around the hatchery. I pluck stalks of grass and twine them in my fingers, twisting them into a circle. "Scully," Mulder says, staring at the sky with his lovely eyes. "Yeah?" I reply, the afternoon has become sleepy, I feel no need to pull my iron walls up. "Do you think there's gonna be a way home?" "Home?" I ask, looking suddenly at his profile…what a big nose… "Yeah…y'know, we can't expect to stay here forever…" I sigh…I have been so fascinated and relaxed by the peaceful nature of this place I'd forgotten about home, work, danger…generally everything else that goes with life. Except for Mulder's cell phone, I wonder how long he'll last… "I guess not Mulder. I'll have to admit, I'd completely forgotten about getting home. Perhaps we should ask around. Maybe someone can sail a ship…I doubt we can get a plane back, these people don't appear to be that advanced." Mulder breathes out loudly through his nose. "Okay lets ask around. I'm sure we'll get some information somewhere." ******************************************************* "Go back? Oh no, no," this is the voice of Alec Orchardwine, Telling me something I do not want to know. "Leaving Dinotopia is the recipe for disaster! You'd be killed! No, nobody has ever done it before, As they say, no eggs have ever rolled out of the nest." He ends his speech with a 'ho ho ho'. I cringe, Mulder does too. "But surely..?" Mulder protests. Alec shakes his head, " No lad, it would be suicide. The reefs, and the winds, the violent storms. No sturdy ship nor flying reptile would even think of leaving the safe shores of the Dinotopian Lagoon. I'm so sorry to disappoint you. However," he says, clapping his hands, smile back on his thin face, "You two are expected soon to register at Waterfall City. The beautiful capital of Dinotopia. There you will put down a list of all your skills so that a place may be found for you in society." We nod, admitting our defeat. But in our hearts we both know that there must be a way out. Suicidal or not. Anyhow, we must now try and master the Dinotopian language before we start off. A few weeks I estimate. As Mulder and I retire to our bed we make a little bet on who will master the language first. A small game to lighten our spirits and move us along. ***************************************************** (Mulder's POV) Seven weeks later The time has come to move on towards Waterfall city. Giorgio has been watching the road for a vehicle to take us down along the coastal route, known as the Mudnest Trail. We have been a day now on the road and Scully looks exhausted. Our transport, a large, red painted dung wagon, smells more vulgar than a dumpster in New York, or even Washington DC itself. I cradle Scully's sleeping head against my shoulder, we are the only humans on board. Besides the dinosaur in harness, there is a group of small reptilians who ignore us, despite my best attempt in engaging them in conversation. Fancy that! How many people can say they've been snubbed by a bunch of dinosaurs. The word 'Pooktook' comes up frequently in their conversation, (to which I am shamelessly eavesdropping) I understand this to be our first stop. An important city in Dinotopia. The Dung Wagon rolls to a stop and we disembark along with the rest of the dino passengers. We are staying one night in Pooktook and then moving on to Volcaneum, a city, most obviously built on top of a volcano. These people must all have a death wish, I think wryly, grinning at my own wit. Scully catches me smiling and looks at me weirdly, "What's so funny Mulder?" She asks, "Do I have bad hair?" I shake my head, still smiling and take her hand, we walk through the main street of Pooktook. I have observed that city life is very different to country life. The city is all colours and musical noise, the country was peaceful and quiet. We stop and lean against a cart of flowers in front of a vegetable stall. Scully and I look at the colourful and…creative clothes that the people are wearing. A man offers Scully a flower from his cart, she takes it, smiling in thanks. "Way to go Scully," I say, "You're first Dinotopian suitor!" She gives me a look. "That was bad, Mulder, even for you." I laugh, she smiles, we watch the life around us. I wonder when we got so casual. "Let me see your flower," I say, taking it from her hands. "Gee, sure Mulder, go ahead." She replies. I twirl the blossom in my hand and then tuck the stem behind her ear so that the petals rest softly against her cheek. She is raising her eyebrow now, and smirking just a little. She gets up off the cart and gestures for my hand. I give it to her, and we continue walking around the streets of Pooktook. ** Night falls, Scully and I have spent all day outside, we haven't yet given thought of our board for the night. In the gathering darkness, people are still at work. Many of the houses are open to the evening air, wafting smells of home cooked food. My stomach grumbles, my partner looks at me with something like amusement. "Hungry?" she asks, I nod. "Do you think there's a café or something here?" I look around at the houses. "Travellers are you? Lost? Need a helping hand?" A man steps out of the shadows, he wears a tallish white hat, decorated with shells, and smokes a large cigar. Could be Cancerman's cousin. Except for the hat… I cautiously shake hands with him, my 'Trust no one' mantra kicking in. "Mulder," I say, introducing myself, "And this is my partner Scully." The man looks Scully up and down, his eyes lingering around her chest. I have an urge to whack him one. "Lee Crabb." He says, "I was bummed here nine years ago. Wanted to leave ever since. What's you business here?" We tell him about the shipwreck and our intended journey to Waterfall city. He listens with a smile of sour grapes. 1/? _____________________________________________ Get your free personalized email address at http://www.MyOwnEmail.com