Chapter 22: Ends and Means
Elnor sat cross-legged on the roof, back straight, eyes closed. He focused on the sounds of traffic in the distance, the birds twittering on some telephone wires. His mind was still. Then a clatter from below and muffled swearing drew him from his meditation. He got to his feet swiftly and ducked through the open window to the catwalk, then down to the ground level of Dr. Soong's current lab.
He found the doctor bowed over his lab station in pain, his hand trembling violently and a specimen slide on the floor. Elnor went over and picked it up to set on the counter, then tried to offer Soong a steadying hand, but the older man shoved him away.
"I'm running out of time," he muttered. "And all this research is useless!" With a swipe of his arm, he sent the slide and several others crashing back to the floor.
Elnor stood there awkwardly. "What can I do?"
Soong snapped an angry gaze at him. "You could have not botched so many artifact retrievals! You know, when I first hired you, the Qowat Milat assured me your age wouldn't be a mark against you, but now I see they sent me a bumbling idiot!"
Elnor gritted his teeth as he took the verbal thrashing. Soong wasn't wrong; Elnor had failed to bring back the artifacts he'd been sent out to get. And half the time he'd even assisted the Warehouse agents in getting and keeping them.
"I will retrieve whatever you need," he vowed.
Soong flashed another seething look at him, then looked thoughtful. "There's an artifact in the Warehouse that will cure me," he said.
Elnor frowned. "But the Warehouse is too protected."
"Find a way," Soong snapped. "Or I'll send you back to the Qowat Milat in disgrace."
Elnor's chest tightened; he really didn't want that. The Qowat Milat was the highest of its Order. When they had taken him in as an orphan and trained him, it was with the understanding that he would devote his life to their way. To be sent back a failure would demand swift and harsh punishment, either exile or death.
"I will find a way," he promised his employer.
Soong harrumphed and reached for a page torn from a journal, which he handed to Elnor. "This is what I need."
The page contained a description and sketch of the artifact: a pair of gloves. Elnor tucked the paper into his pocket and set off, determined to hold up his honor.
Raffi pushed the shopping cart of groceries out into the parking lot. In a town as small as Oneville, all they had was a general store, and there'd only been two other customers inside when Raffi popped in to pick up supplies.
She used the SUV's key fob to pop the back, then started loading the bags in. As she did, she pulled out her cell and called Seven.
"Hello."
"Hey, want to come over for dinner tonight? I'll cook."
There was a momentary silence on the other end, and Raffi wondered if Seven was in some kind of meeting. She knew there were other Regents aware of the Warehouse and that they coordinated within law enforcement agencies, but she didn't really know what else Seven did with her time.
"The bed-and-breakfast isn't very private," she said.
Raffi paused in loading the grocery bags. "Are you worried about people knowing we're in a relationship?"
"No. It's just…complicated."
"Wow. Uh, I'm trying not to take that personally."
"As Caretaker of the Warehouse, I have special responsibilities," Seven replied.
"Is there a rule book that prohibits dating?" Raffi asked.
Seven didn't respond.
"Wait, is there?"
"Not in so many words… It's—"
"Complicated, yeah. All right, then how about just coming over to hang out with all of us? As friends. That way I'd still get to spend time with you."
"Caretakers don't usually interact on a personal level with Warehouse agents," Seven hedged.
"A little late for that, isn't it?" Raffi rejoined, admittedly feeling stung and rejected. "Whatever, talk to you later." She hung up and stuffed her phone back in her pocket, then closed the back of the SUV.
But before she could head around to the front to hop in, something struck her from behind and everything went black.
She later came to with a dull ache in her head and her hands cuffed to a standing pipe. Straightening in alarm, she swept her gaze around, squinting as the abrupt motion made her slightly lightheaded. She was in what looked like a vacant building…and Elnor was there.
"You've got to be kidding me," she muttered and gave the handcuffs a yank. Of course, the metal didn't budge, nor did the pipe.
"I apologize for bringing you here like this," Elnor said, and he almost sounded sincere if it weren't for the whole kidnapping thing. "It was the most efficient method," he went on.
"What do you want? How did you even find us?" she demanded.
"I followed you after one of our encounters."
Crap. Then he likely knew where the Warehouse was. But its security was like a fortress, made even more secure with the updates and now a whole squad of holograms on duty in the place.
"Then what do you want?" Raffi asked again.
Elnor held up a Farnsworth, and she cursed silently again, noticing the familiar weight was no longer in her coat.
"I need something from the Warehouse. You will call them and tell them I will exchange you for it."
"They will never hand over an artifact," Raffi rejoined.
Elnor's expression looked regretful but resolute. "They will, if they want you back alive."
Raffi's pulse quickened at the seriousness in his tone as he held the Farnsworth out to her.
Rios sat alone in the main office, reading. Well, not alone. That irritating copy of his was hovering again.
"Hm, your bioelectrical field isn't quite back to normal yet."
"What are you, my doctor?" Rios snapped. "And how would you even know?"
"Computer sensors."
Rios scowled and held his book up high to block his line of sight. "Don't you have some work to do?"
Emil sighed. "Very well."
The main Farnsworth in the office chimed then with an incoming signal. Emil went over to answer it, though Rios paused in his reading because no one was out on a case right now.
"Ah, Agent Musiker," Emil said. "What is the nature of—"
"Is Rios there?" she interrupted.
Rios set his book down and got up to come over to the imager. He frowned at the sight of Raffi in the visual dome. She was angled oddly and appeared to be sitting on the ground. "Raf?"
"Ri—"
The rest of his name was distorted as the Farnsworth suddenly shifted and turned around, revealing Elnor.
"Agent Rios," the kid greeted soberly. "The Warehouse has something I want, and I have something you want."
Rios spluttered incredulously.
"Clara Barton's Gloves," Elnor went on. "You will exchange them for your partner."
Emil's eyes widened and he hurried out of the office down to the storage.
"We are not handing over artifacts to Dr. Soong," Rios growled.
Elnor nodded sagely. "That is your choice. But Raffi's life hangs in the balance. So, please, choose for her to live." He disconnected the call.
Rios's heart began to stutter as it picked up pace, and he whipped his gaze around the empty office. Where was a damn holo when you wanted one?
He rushed out and down the stairs to the storage area where he found Emil returning with Jean-Luc and Soji, explaining what was going on.
"Raffi went into town," Rios barked at the hologram. "She had to have been grabbed there. Track her through traffic cameras, ATM cameras, anything!"
Emil gave a short nod and went still as his eyes flickered blue.
"Are you sure Elnor has Raffi?" Jean-Luc asked.
Rios nodded.
Emil straightened. "I've located the SUV." He turned to head back up to the office, and the rest of them followed. Upstairs, Emil pulled up security footage of the general store's parking lot on the computer.
They watched Raffi walk out to the car and begin to load the groceries. She talked on her phone for a short bit, and then immediately after hanging up, there was a shimmer of air behind her and she was knocked out from behind. Elnor appeared and pulled Raffi over his shoulder, then used Masamune's Sword to make them both invisible. Which meant there was no way to track them.
"What artifact does he want?" Soji asked.
"Clara Barton's Gloves," Rios answered. "I don't know what those are."
"They are a pair of kid leather gloves worn by Clara Barton," Jean-Luc replied. "Known as the 'Angel of the Battlefield.' Together, they can heal any ailment, but separately, they have severe consequences."
"Maybe Dr. Soong wants to use them to heal people?" Soji suggested with a grimace. The man's methods hadn't exactly been noble in the past.
"You said separately they have consequences?" Rios said to Picard.
He nodded. "The right glove will heal people but drain the wearer, whereas the left will fortify the wearer but release typhoid fever into the population."
Rios ran his hands through his hair and turned to Emil. "Is there nothing you can track? What about the Farnsworth signal?"
The holo shook his head regretfully. "Unfortunately, the very thing that makes the Farnsworths so secure also prevents us from tracing them."
Rios exhaled heavily. "Then we have no choice; we have to go through with the swap."
Elnor walked over to Raffi and offered her a bottle of water. She arched her brows and gave the handcuffs a little rattle. Elnor unscrewed the cap but still placed the bottle in her hand. She hand to inch close to the pipe to take a sip, but she could manage. Even restrained as she was, Elnor knew not to underestimate her.
"Dr. Soong's intentions are not malevolent," he said. "He needs the gloves to cure himself of a genetic illness for which there is no treatment."
Raffi narrowed her eyes, and he moved closer to take the water bottle back.
"Is that what his experiments with artifacts were for?"
"Yes. But now he has learned of the gloves."
"That doesn't make it right," Raffi pointed out. "Even if he was doing it to help other people with the same condition or something else, he still committed murder. The ends don't justify the means." She paused. "Nor does kidnapping."
"It's not personal," Elnor told her.
"Uh, threatening to kill me feels very personal to me."
He grimaced. "I knew your friends would never let that happen."
"So, your threatening to kill me was a bluff?"
"No… I do not lie. But it won't come to that."
The Warehouse communication device chimed with an incoming signal, and Elnor opened it to answer. Rios's face appeared in the dome display.
"I have the gloves." He held them up as proof.
"Good. Come to the vacant strip mall on Olive Road, last storefront on the row, in one hour. And come alone. If I see anyone else trying to enter the vicinity, I will take that to mean Agent Musiker's life has been forfeited."
"Let me talk to her," Rios demanded.
Elnor turned the communicator around so he could see Raffi, but didn't let her speak. "One hour," he repeated and then disconnected.
Raffi regarded him with a dark look. "Still not lying?"
He didn't respond and instead began to prepare for the exchange. He brought out a large coil of rope and began to wind it around Raffi, from her ankles upward.
"What are you doing?" she asked in alarm.
"I don't trust your partner not to attempt a double-cross. His reasons are noble, of course, but ends and means."
Raffi glowered at him as he finished tying her up in a rope cocoon so secure she couldn't move at all. Elnor pulled a strip of duct tape next, which Raffi began to protest, but her indignant exclamation was muffled as he taped her mouth shut. Last but not least, he placed his sword against her, angling it so that it reflected the light around Raffi, making her invisible. Elnor then went up to the roof to keep watch and make sure the Warehouse agents followed his instructions.
Rios arrived on time, and Elnor didn't see anyone else trying to sneak up from another angle; he'd picked a location where he had full line of sight in all directions. So he headed back down to where he'd left Raffi and waited.
The front door creaked open, letting in an influx of light. Rios stepped inside, posture taut and guarded as he looked around the seemingly empty room.
"Where's Raffi?" he demanded.
"She's here," Elnor replied. "But you won't find her until I have the gloves."
A muscle in Rios's jaw ticked, but he pulled out the white gloves and held them up.
"Toss them in the middle where your communicator is," Elnor instructed.
Rios did so.
Elnor walked over and picked the gloves up. "Thank you for choosing wisely." He then triggered the trip wire he'd set up across that section of the room, and it brought the sword flying toward him. Rios was distracted by Raffi suddenly appearing, and Elnor snatched up the sword, made himself invisible, and slipped away.
Raffi seethed in her bonds as Rios rushed over to her.
"Are you all right?" he asked urgently, even as he took his time trying to gingerly pull off the duct tape.
She winced at the stinging pain as the adhesive came off. "I'm fine," she scowled. "Except for my ego."
Rios began to untie her. Elnor was skilled at knots, though, because he struggled to get them loose, and they were so snug against her that using a knife would be just as tedious.
"How bad is the artifact he took?" she asked grimly.
Rios shrugged. "The gloves can heal people, but used separately they either drain the wearer or spread typhoid fever."
"Great," Raffi muttered, then pursed her mouth in thought. "Elnor claimed Soong is dying from a genetic illness, and all his artifact hunting and research was to find a cure for himself."
Rios didn't comment as he finished getting the last knot undone and then helped unwind the rope from her limbs.
"Maybe that will put an end to his pursuits," she went on.
Rios gave her a doubtful grimace.
Yeah, right.
He helped her up, then went over to retrieve the Farnsworth before they both headed back to the Warehouse in disgrace.
After briefing Jean-Luc on everything she and Elnor talked about, Raffi went to the B&B to privately mope over this personal failure. Objectively, she knew it wasn't her fault, and neither JL nor Rios blamed her, but the defeat still tasted bitter. She didn't like being outsmarted.
A knock sounded on her door.
"What?" she answered unenthusiastically.
The door opened and Seven stepped inside, shutting it behind her. "Hi."
"Hey," Raffi said somewhat stiffly.
"I just wanted to come by and say I'm glad you're okay."
"Oh? Not to chew me out for losing an artifact to a bad guy? That is the Caretaker's job, isn't it?"
"Raffi…"
She waved her hand abruptly and cut her off, "Sorry. It's just been a bad day. The ice cream I bought for dessert melted in the car."
Seven regarded her for several long moments without saying anything. Then, "Come with me."
"Where?"
"To show you something no one else knows about me."
Despite her bad mood, Raffi couldn't turn down the chance to satisfy her curiosity, so she followed Seven downstairs and out to where her driver was waiting. He drove them to an assisted living home for seniors and waited in the car as Seven led the way inside to the community room.
"See that man there," she said, pointing to an elderly gentleman in a wheelchair parked by the window.
"Yeah. Who is he?"
"My grandson."
Raffi whipped her gaze to Seven, expression slackening in shock. "What?"
"Working for the Warehouse requires sacrifice, as you know," she said. "For some, such as Caretakers, the sacrifice is more."
Raffi didn't know what to say. "How old are you?"
Seven arched a brow, and Raffi grimaced.
"Sorry. But…grandson…"
Seven turned a fond gaze to the man in the back. "His name is Icheb. He has Alzheimers and doesn't even know who I am anymore." Her expression and tone turned sad. "That is my sacrifice: to watch my loved ones age and die and then be forgotten when there is no one left who remembers me."
Raffi couldn't imagine.
"So," Seven went on softly. "I ask for some grace while I learn to…open myself up again."
Raffi nodded, instantly forgiving her. And, standing in the middle of the community room, she reached out her hand and intertwined their fingers. "I think you're worth waiting for."
Seven gave a small smile in return and didn't pull away.
Elnor walked into Dr. Soong's lab and bowed formally before presenting the gloves. Soong's eyes glittered with anticipation as he took them and carefully slipped them over his hands. He then took a deep breath, spine straightening as though invigorated. Expression alight, he quickly removed the gloves and took a blood sample to examine.
"Did they work?" Elnor asked.
Dr. Soong was practically giddy as he ran the test. "I feel better already. Like I'm twenty years old again."
Elnor nodded in satisfaction.
When the test result came back, the genetic condition was miraculously gone. Dr. Soong had finally achieved his quest of being healed. He didn't send Elnor out after any more artifacts, though he also didn't yet release him from service. Elnor was content to wait.
But then he noticed Dr. Soong was wearing the left glove only as he continued working on his research.
"I don't understand," he spoke up. "Did the gloves not permanently heal you like they were supposed to?"
"No, they did," Soong replied. "But this one continues to fortify the user. It's the perfect remedy for caffeine and sleep. I can work for hours without stopping."
Elnor frowned. "Is there not a downside to that?" It seemed every artifact he'd encountered had some kind of negative consequences if used too much.
Soong waved his hand dismissively. "Not one we have to worry about. Now, I need more supplies."
He handed Elnor a list of new lab equipment to obtain.
Elnor hesitated for a moment before turning to go do as his employer instructed. But this did not sit well with him at all…