and emphatically forbidden to do so, and that every time he disregarded this prohibition he was no longer risking his reputation alone. And it was precisely for this reason that she had allowed herself to be persuaded again. She couldn't just stay in Washington with her hands on her lap and wait to see Mulder run into his misery with ardor. He needed someone to slow him down every now and then and steer him back on the right track. And could back him up if necessary.
She made a face. Why she kept getting carried away, she couldn't answer herself.
"I assure you that we have taken this into account in our approach, Agent Gibbs. We have inspected the interior of the ship once without touching or altering anything.You have my word on that. "
For the moment that seemed to placate him, but Scully suspected that he wouldn’t be satisfied with that alone. The penetrating gaze of his blue eyes was now on her. "Very well. But then you can certainly explain to me how it can be that the FBI is better informed about the background of the SeaCrawler than the NCIS. How the hell do you want to know all that you just told me ? "
He knew it was a painful admission that NCIS knew nothing of the circumstances. But the guess the FBI agent had made here did not tolerate a skirmish of authority. At least not like that.
Scully looked invitingly over at Mulder, who smiled thinly. "I informed myself."
It did not help. Mulder was clearly out for confrontation and obviously knew more about the fate of the cruiser than Gibbs would like. He couldn't just ignore that so easily."DiNozzo!"
The young man quickly turned to his boss, switched off the cell phone and was at his side in a few steps. He eyed Mulder and Scully in amazement.
"Get these two FBI agents out of the security area and talk to them. I want to find out every little detail they know about the SeaCrawler." He dismissed the three with a curt nod and then continued his way around the ship away.
Mulder watched Gibbs thoughtfully for a moment. Could it really be that NCIS hadn't known about the SeaCrawler's mission? He valued the silver-haired agent with those incredibly hard blue eyes as a capable and wise investigator. The consternation that had surprised him for a brief moment had not escaped him and he saw it as a very real reaction. Discomfort spread in his stomach. If that was indeed the case, then it certainly didn’t bode well. He'd done the right thing to come here to Tennessee.That much was certain.
Mulder averted his eyes and followed the younger NCIS agent, away from the eerie aura of the wrecked cruiser.