67.      Bad News

Mulder prepares to depart Poseidon for a new system, leaving Marcus behind as Bob-in-residence. Before leaving, he reviews progress at the colony and learns about Marcus's ambitious aerial city prototype. Mulder then accelerates out of the system and reconnects with Riker to discuss the broader status of human colonies and the looming threat from the Others.

Mulder reviews his final report from Poseidon, noting three operational mat colonies and two floating cities nearing completion, along with three months without kraken attacks. Monty and Marcus join him to discuss Monty's imminent departure back to Earth at 0.75 C velocity. Marcus reveals he has developed a small proof-of-concept prototype for an aerial city—a floating structure with triple redundancy that could theoretically support cities as large as the existing floating installations. However, the prototype won't be ready for testing for another six months, meaning Monty won't learn the results until returning to Earth. Mulder leaves Poseidon the following day, accelerating out of the system. Despite making friends during his tenure, he recognizes the melancholy of potentially outliving them due to relativistic time dilation. Once he reaches his new trajectory, Riker contacts him. Riker reports fourteen active colony ships serving settlements at Vulcan, Poseidon, Epsilon Indi, and 82 Eridani, indicating progress for humanity's expansion. However, he notes that 82 Eridani and Epsilon Indi remain vulnerable to potential threats from the Others, representing an ongoing concern despite colonial successes.