Mulder hated being summoned to Assistant Director Skinner's office. To be truthful, he hated being summoned anywhere, but he did not like his and Scully's new boss much. Also, if Skinner was giving them a case, it was bound to be something boring and unworthy of his talents.
"I think you might like this one, Agent Mulder," Skinner began, as if reading Mulder's thoughts. "A number of unexplained incidents have happened recently in the small Texas town of McAllen." So saying he passed a folder across the desk.
Scully opened the folder to find a number of police reports. "Three people killed in four days," she concluded, "all having their necks broken. Why can't the police handle this?"
"Look again, Agent Scully. Their necks were not just broken."
Scully looked more carefully at the reports and saw what she had missed before. She let out a soft gasp.
"What is it, Scully?" asked Mulder.
"All three victims had their neck vertebra crushed to powder. No human should have that kind of strength." Mulder's eyes lit up at her conclusion.
"There have also been numerous sightings around the town, late at night, of large, apelike creatures. And then there's this." He handed Scully another folder.
Opening it she assumed the photo was of an ordinary corpse, until she saw the scale marker beside the body. She shook her head slowly.
"This isn't possible," she declared, passing the file to Mulder.
Mulder looked over the folder and handed it back to his partner. "That must be what they mean by living in reduced circumstances," he quipped. According to the file the corpse was only four inches high.
"I'm afraid it's all too possible," Skinner said, replying to Scully's objection. "This gentleman may be able to help."
The man who had been sitting to one side during the entire exchange now moved forward and introduced himself to the agents. He was average height with greying hair. He was still trim for his age, which Mulder estimated to be mid-fifties.
"I'm Assistant Director Bill Filer, with the Intelligence Division. I've encountered this kind of thing before."
He detailed for them a trip to England twenty years previously, his encounters with an organisation called U.N.I.T. and finally the man he had been sent to find.
"Here is our file on him," he said. "He calls himself The Master, though he was tried and convicted in England under the name of Magister, which is probably an alias."
"There's not much in here," said Mulder, indicating the file.
"That's because we don't know much about him," Filer replied. "He escaped a couple of months into a multiple life sentence and, after a couple of brief appearances, seems to have disappeared completely. Until now."
"Why do you think this, Master, is involved?" asked Scully.
Filer smiled grimly. "The shrunken corpse. He owns some kind of advanced weapon that can reduce matter. It's all in the file."
"You're booked on the next flight out," Skinner told them. "Be careful if you encounter this Master character, he's extremely dangerous." Mulder and Scully rose to leave. "And good luck," Skinner added.
"Oh, and one more thing," Filer added. The two agents turned in the doorway. "You may come across a man calling himself The Doctor. He was the U.N.I.T. operative in charge of catching The Master. He could be useful."
"We'll look out for him," Scully promised.
***
On the flight to McAllen Mulder studied the thin file on The Master, including a photo showing a thin faced, bearded man with a little grey showing at the temples and corners of his mouth.
Scully was looking once more at the photo of the shrunken corpse. "There must be a rational explanation," she commented.
Mulder smiled. "I'm sure you'll find one, Scully," he said. Even if one doesn't exist, he completed the thought.
