The dreaded 'black oil' has been tapped in the remote deserts of the Middle East, and divergent forces are massing to contain, control, and even assist the deadly, sentient essence of Earth's once (and future?) alien colonists. But what does it want with Agents Mulder and Scully, what does a rising neo-Syndicate want with it? And why, where, and-most importantly-how is Alex Krycek involved?!