 A mass murder – suicide occurs among a team of geophysicists at an outpost in Icy Cape , Alaska . FBI special agents Fox Mulder ( David Duchovny ) and Dana Scully ( Gillian Anderson ) head for the outpost , accompanied by physician Dr. Hodge ( Xander Berkeley ) ; toxicologist Dr. DaSilva ( Felicity Huffman ) ; geologist Dr. Murphy ( Steve Hytner ) and Bear ( Jeff Kober ) , their pilot . With the scientists ' bodies the group finds a dog , who attacks Mulder and Bear . Scully notices black nodules on its skin , and suspects that it may be infected with bubonic plague ; she also notices movement beneath its skin . Although Bear ( who was bitten by the dog ) becomes ill and develops similar nodules on his body , autopsies reveal no such nodules on the bodies of the scientists . 
