Piper Maru - Plot

Plot

Piper Maru, a French salvage vessel, is exploring the Pacific Ocean. Gauthier, a member of the ship's crew, dives down into the sea and finds a sunken fighter plane from World War II. He is shocked to find a man alive in the plane's cockpit, with an oil-like substance in his eyes. When Gauthier returns to the surface, he has become possessed by this black oil.

In Washington, FBI Assistant Director Walter Skinner (Mitch Pileggi) tells agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) that the investigation into her sister Melissa's murder has been made inactive, despite the evidence that had been recovered. Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) tells Scully about the Piper Maru, which had laid anchor at the same coordinates as another ship believed to have salvaged a UFO; when the Piper Maru came to port in San Diego, her crew was found suffering from somatic radiation burns. The agents visit the ship, finding traces of the black oil on Gauthier's diving suit. Upon viewing a video of the dive, Scully identifies the sunken plane as a P-51 Mustang. Meanwhile, Gauthier returns home and searches for something. When his wife Joan arrives, the black oil passes itself along to her.

Scully visits an old friend of her father's, Commander Christopher Johanson, seeking information about the plane; he initially claims to not know anything about it. Meanwhile, Mulder visits Gauthier's home, finding him passed out and covered in the black oil; he has no memory of his experience. Mulder finds a letter from a salvage broker, and visits the broker's 'secretary' Jeraldine. Mulder follows her when she leaves after her office is invaded by several men.

Scully is stopped by Johanson as she is about to leave and he admits that after World War II he was sent to find a sunken bomber aboard the submarine Zeus Faber. He says the bomber was carrying an atomic bomb like that which was dropped on Hiroshima, and was accompanied by several P-51s, including the plane the Piper Maru discovered. 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 this information while he follows Jeraldine to Hong Kong. Joan also heads there. In Hong Kong Mulder finds Jeraldine, who is revealed to be a middleman selling government secrets. Mulder handcuffs himself to her and gets her to bring him to her office, where Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) waits inside, having been selling the contents of the digital tape (last seen in "Paper Clip"). 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.

Meanwhile, Skinner is initially confronted by several men, including the Gray-Haired Man (Morris Panych), and told not to pursue Melissa Scully's case any further. Skinner is later shot by Luis Cardinal. Scully is contacted regarding his shooting. Krycek is caught by Mulder in an airport. 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. Inside he is confronted by Joan. As he departs the bathroom to leave with Mulder, Krycek's eyes show he is now infected with the black oil.