40: Explanations

Alex, Derek and Daeron made their way to the cafeteria, stopping at the lounge where they found Jack Whitman still unconscious, or rather, sleeping, with the two ellith softly singing over him.

"He came to a few minutes ago," Alphwen told them. "He was naturally disoriented, but he knew who he was and where he was. We felt it best that he sleep until Loren can speak with him."

"We’re on our way to make some coffee for everyone," Daeron explained.

"I wouldn’t mind some cocoa myself even if it isn’t Roy’s," Alphwen said.

"We can do that, too," Daeron replied with a smile and then the three men made their way into the cafeteria and the kitchen. Daeron ordered Alex and Derek to make the cocoa while he put together the coffee. "And I think we’ll heat up some of these cinnamon rolls as well," he added, pulling a tray out of the refrigerator. "I see Grace has them all ready to be baked. I’m sure she won’t mind if we take some for ourselves."

With that, they set about putting the coffee and cocoa together while the rolls were browning in the oven. Serindë came in at one point to get a glass of water for Jack, who had woken again, complaining of thirst. She spoke to Daeron softly in Sindarin, too softly for either Mortal to make out, and after a moment, returned to the lounge.

All the while, neither Alex nor Derek spoke, except when necessary to complete their tasks. "Let’s set everything up in the cafeteria," Daeron finally said as he pulled the rolls out of the oven and proceeded to swirl icing over them. Alex grabbed the coffee while Derek brought out the cocoa and then went back for some mugs, plates and silverware, setting everything on a nearby table.

"How long do you think it’s going to be?" Derek finally asked as the two of them finished arranging the table to their satisfaction.

"Graff’s giving them one hour," Alex said. "That hour’s almost up, so it shouldn’t be too long."

Even as he spoke, they noticed that there were lights outside. Going to the windows they could see two sheriff’s cars stopping before the front door and Graff stepping out along with another officer. Then they were lost to their view as they came inside the building. The two went back to the table and sat as Daeron came out bearing a plate of cinnamon rolls.

"Sheriff’s here," Alex told him and the Elf nodded.

"Why don’t you go see how Alfa and Sarah are doing, let them know that the coffee is on," Daeron suggested and the two Mortals gave each other shrugs and did as they were bid.

In the lounge they saw that Jack was awake again and Glorfindel was there, sitting next to him, speaking softly as he gently stroked the young Man’s hair. Alphwen and Serindë were standing nearby speaking with Elrohir and Elladan. Elrohir had his arm around Serindë. Both ellyn looked wan to Alex’s discerning eye and there was an aura of fatigue surrounding them.

"Coffee’s on, if anyone’s interested," Alex said as he approached the four Elves. Even as he was speaking, Barahir, Cennanion and Gilvegil were coming into the lounge with Amroth behind them. Amroth looked almost grey.

"Good," he said grimly. "I can use some." Without waiting to see if anyone else was following, he headed to the cafeteria. Cennanion, Gilvegil and Barahir joined him.

Glorfindel looked up. "I’m going to see Jack back to his room and then I’ll join you," he said, and he stood, helping Jack up and left the lounge. Everyone else went into the cafeteria where they found Daeron busy serving those already there. The coffee seemed to be helping, for Amroth looked less haggard.

"What happened to the two goons?" Alex asked him as he took his own mug of coffee and one of the cinnamon rolls.

"Safely in custody," Amroth answered. "And good riddance to such scum. I think I need a brain scrub after that little interview."

"What happened? What did they tell you?" Alex demanded impatiently. "How did Farrell find them?"

Amroth raised a hand. "One thing at a time, son," he said. "We need to regain some of our strength before we start explaining things to you two. You have no idea how much it cost us to do what we did and we should wait for Loren."

"He’s seeing Jack to his room, so he shouldn’t be long," Elrohir said from where he sat with Serindë by his side.

A couple of minutes later, Glorfindel came in, accepting the mug that Daeron handed to him with a nod of thanks, drank half of it in one gulp and then sat, giving a sigh. Those who’d been standing found seats of their own. After a minute or two of people concentrating on eating and drinking, Glorfindel looked over at Alex and Derek.

"We are really in a bind here," he said.

"How so?" Alex asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

Rather than answering him, Glorfindel turned to Derek. "How are you doing?"

Derek gave a shrug. "I’m fine, considering that I’m working on three hours of sleep. I’d be a lot better if you would explain what the hell is going on here. Who were those goons and why were they after me or Alex? Were they after us?"

"Yes, they were and the why of that is what we must speak of, but Derek, what you are about to learn is something you cannot speak about to anyone unless we tell you otherwise. Do you think you can handle that? If not, you’re free to leave now and no one here will think the less of you."

"And end up dying of extreme curiosity instead?" Derek asked rhetorically, shaking his head. "I wasn’t just a swabbie. I was with Naval Intelligence. Oh, I don’t mean I was a spy or anything. I was just an analyzer of information. I handled sensitive information on a regular basis and had top security clearance for everything but the most hush-hush. I know how and when to keep my mouth shut."

Everyone, including Alex, gave him appraising looks, while Derek sat there smirking over his coffee mug. "And you thought I was just another pretty face, didn’t you?" he asked nobody in particular.

They all laughed at that and the tension eased somewhat around them.

"Very well," Glorfindel said. "To begin with, everything you’ve been learning about Elves is true."

"Excuse me?" Derek demanded. "What do you mean by that?"

"Just this: there truly are such things as Elves. Other than Alex, you are sitting in a room full of Elves." With that, he pushed back his hair to reveal his ears and all the other Elves did the same. Alex sat there giving Derek a sympathetic smile as he watched the play of emotions on his friend’s face.

For a long moment, Derek just sat there, glancing at them one at a time, finally landing his gaze on Alex, his eyes narrowing. "And how long have you known?"

"Not long, just since the weekend I spent with them."

"Okay. Well, that explains a lot of things that weren’t adding up."

"You don’t seem very surprised," Alex said, giving him a suspicious look. "Are you telling me you’d already guessed that Elves were real?"

"No, but it doesn’t take a genius to know that things weren’t exactly kosher around here. Sindarin, for instance. It’s too detailed, with the usual kinds of inconsistencies that are found in all natural languages that generally don’t show up in artificial languages like Esperanto. No one would actually make up something like archaic nasalized stop mutations unless they were truly evil."

The Elves all laughed at that but Alex merely scowled.

"You never gave any indication that you were suspicious of all that," he said accusingly.

Derek lifted an eyebrow. "You don’t play poker that much, do you?" he asked rhetorically.

Before Alex could offer a retort, Glorfindel raised his hand. "Enough. Derek, I’m glad you are taking this as calmly as you are. You would’ve been brought in on our secret eventually, but circumstances have forced our hand. Now, there will be more than enough time to fill you in on details, but for now, we’ll just tell you that the ultimate purpose for Elf Academy is not to train people to be Elf Guides for the tourist industry, although that is something we will continue doing for the foreseeable future, but we are actually preparing the way for the Dagor Dagorath, which you’ve learned about in the history class."

"Yeah, that Armageddon thing," Derek said with a nod. "So, you’re what? Training us to fight for real?"

"Yes. Those who join with us, and that includes the people of Wiseman and the surrounding towns, will someday be the vanguard of the Army of Light that will stand against Morgoth. No one knows when that will be but we’ve been commissioned to prepare Mortals for that day when we will once again fight side-by-side."

"Commissioned by whom?" Derek asked.

"By the Valar," Glorfindel answered, "and yes, they and their Maiarin servants are for real. You met some of them at Winterdark Tarn."

"The hikers who rescued Alex and Caleb?" Derek asked in disbelief.

"Yes. They were sent by Lord Námo to effect a rescue," Glorfindel said.

Derek sat there for a moment, frowning at nothing in particular as he thought on what Glorfindel had told him. Finally, he looked up at the Elf-Lord. "So your name really is Glorfindel, isn’t it?"

"Yes, it is, and we will introduce ourselves properly later, but for now, just continue calling us by our Mortal names."

"Fine. So, what was tonight all about?"

"Well, that’s where it gets a little complicated."

Derek sat back in his chair, giving them a brief smile. "I’m all ears," he said as he took another sip of his coffee.

Glorfindel glanced, first at Amroth and then at Alex. "Do you tell him, or should I?" he asked.

Alex sighed, then turned to Derek. "You’re not the only one who has a background in intelligence work."

"You?"

Alex nodded. "I’m with an agency connected with Homeland Security and the CIA. In point of fact, I’m a spy and Alex Grant is not my real name."

Derek stared at him with narrowed eyes. "So what is your name?" he finally asked.

But Alex shook his head. "It would be better if you continue to think of me as Alex Grant."

"Okay, I can see that," Derek said with a nod. "Makes it less likely for me to slip up, but now explain to me what the hell is Homeland Security or the CIA doing shoving their noses into the affairs of this Academy? Don’t they have better things to do with themselves?"

"Alex is here because of me, Derek," Amroth interjected before Alex could reply. "I used to work for the same Agency but fifteen years ago I faked my death and disappeared. Then two years ago, I came here and someone took our photographs and sent them to the Agency. I had been Alex’s mentor and friend and everyone in the Agency knew that so when it was learned that I was alive, they sent him here to find out why."

Derek looked between Amroth and Alex and when Alex nodded, he sighed. "Why do I get the feeling I’ve just landed in the middle of a John Le Carré spy novel?"

Everyone grinned at that. "It does seem like it, doesn’t it?" Glorfindel said. "The point is, someone alerted Alex’s Agency about us. If those photos hadn’t been sent, no one would even know about us."

"And who sent the photos?" Derek asked.

"We don’t know," Daeron replied, "but the more I think about it, the more I believe that Alex was meant to see that photo of Amroth. It was the lure to bring him here."

"You mean the Valar, don’t you?" Glorfindel demanded, looking grim, and Daeron nodded.

"The Valar?" Amroth exclaimed. "Do you seriously think they had a hand in it?"

"It would explain many things," Daeron said. "They wanted Alex here and given what we’ve learned of his heritage, it makes sense."

"Well not to me," Derek said, reaching for the coffee pot to pour himself another cup. "What exactly were you sent to do, other than make an ass of yourself the way you carried on when you first arrived?"

Alex had the grace to blush while the Elves looked on with varying degrees of amusement. "I like this guy," Elrohir said to Glorfindel. "He doesn’t pull any punches."

"My mission was to determine what Amroth, whom I knew as Ambrose Elwood, was doing here when he should have been dead and if necessary take him out."

"And by ‘take him out’ you don’t mean treat him to Colonel Sanders’ Kentucky Fried Chicken, do you?"

Alex could only shake his head while the Elves all grinned. Derek took a sip of his coffee, his brow furrowed in deep thought. "I see. And tonight? You still haven’t explained what tonight was all about."

"I’m the agent in the field," Alex explained. "Under normal conditions, I have complete autonomy. My controllers keep a very long leash on me, allowing me to do my job, as I specialize in infiltrating terrorist cells of the homegrown variety. When I’m under deep cover, I stay there until I’m ready to surface and make a bust. For some reason that I haven’t figured out yet, Mark Farrell and eight other agents were sent, ostensibly to act as my backup, something I’ve never had before."

"Farrell. That’s the guy who was hanging around taking notes," Derek said.

"Yes, he was using the accreditation committee as a cover," Alex replied. "At any rate, Farrell contacted me against all protocol and pretty much told me he was taking over the case and ordered me to take Amroth out before Thanksgiving or there would be dire consequences. I think tonight was meant to be a warning. Whether Farrell expected his hired hands to actually succeed in kidnapping you to force my hand or if they were meant to fail, who can say? All I do know is that Farrell is playing outside the rules."

"You mean by hiring Snyder and Ersck," Glorfindel said. "And that brings us back to what we learned from them, which, admittedly, isn’t much."

"Just how did you get them to talk?" Alex asked. "You all looked like death warmed over when you came out of the interrogation."

"We have certain powers of the mind that I’m not about to explain to you right now," Glorfindel replied, "which allow us to read surface thoughts. Ask the right questions and even if the person speaks falsely, his thoughts betray him. Also, we... um... had a little help from above, if you catch my drift."

Alex raised an eyebrow at the implications of that statement. "By that, you mean a certain Maia named Fionwë?"

Glorfindel nodded and gave them a grim smile. "Fionwë can be very persuasive when he puts his mind to it."

"The sword helped," Elladan said somewhat laconically, giving them a diffident smile.

Derek’s eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline as those who’d been in on the interrogation chuckled.

"So what did you learn?" Alex insisted. "How did Farrell even find them?"

"As to that, we don’t know," Glorfindel answered. "They could only tell us that Farrell approached them separately, saying he had a job for them. He gave them all the necessary equipment to effect a night raid, told them where to cut the wires so the alarms wouldn’t sound when they opened the emergency door and how to find your room. They were to bring Derek with them, leaving you behind."

"And where were they supposed to take me?" Derek asked.

"Apparently they were to head for Chandalar, to a particular street where Farrell was to meet them for the transfer. We’re assuming the other three agents would be with him to help. Beyond that, we don’t know."

"Wait! What three agents? Didn’t you say something about there being eight?" Derek turned to Alex.

"We took out five of them," Alex said.

"Took out as in....?"

"No. They’re alive and well, if not entirely happy," Alex assured him. "I needed to level the playing field a bit and Glorfindel and the others helped to neutralize five of the agents, leaving Farrell and three others whom we haven’t identified. Farrell is being cagey, hiring local criminals to do his dirty work for him. He’s way out of bounds there. I doubt Maddy Washburn would approve."

"Maddy is many things," Amroth said with a nod, "and she’s not above cutting corners to get a job done, but there are certain lines that are never crossed and she knows that. No, I suspect our Mr. Farrell has crossed a line and if Maddy ever finds out, she will make his life a living hell."

"That’s assuming she ever learns of this," Alex said with a grimace. He turned to Glorfindel. "Can you call Graff and have him place Snyder and Ersck under guard at all times? They’re loose ends, as far as Farrell is concerned, and he can’t afford that."

"You think he’ll try to silence them permanently?" Glorfindel asked.

"If I were Farrell, I would," Alex replied with a nod.

Glorfindel took out his phone and dialed a number. They all sat in silence while he waited for Graff to pick up. When after a few seconds went by with no answer, he frowned as he shut down the phone. "Something’s wrong. I called the Sheriff’s office, not Graff, and there’s no answer. There should be someone on duty."

Alex rose from his seat. "I’m going over there. I’ll just grab my coat...."

"No," Glorfindel said firmly. "You let us handle it. We can get there much faster than you. Dan, Roy, Conan, Barry, you’re with me. Amroth, you, Daeron and Gil keep an eye on the Academy. I don’t want to leave this place unguarded. Sarah and Alfa, I want you to return to Edhellond and let Ron know what’s happening."

"And what about us?" Alex demanded. "Farrell is my problem, not yours."

"Farrell is all our problem and we can handle things without having Mortals mucking things up," Glorfindel retorted.

"Mucking things up?" Alex shouted angrily. "Is that how you see us? I thought the whole purpose behind all this was to form a partnership, to work together, to fight together, and now you’re dismissing us as if we’re errant children caught out of bed after hours?"

"I don’t have time for this," Glorfindel said, rising from his seat. "You all have your orders. Alex, Derek, help Amroth and Daeron to hold down the fort. We’ll be back as soon as we can. Let’s go."

With that he strode out and the others followed him, save for Amroth, Daeron and Gil. Derek sat there quietly but Alex was incensed. "Bloody son of a... where does he get off?"

"Calm down, son," Amroth said. "It’s time you realized that as soon as you joined forces with us, you came under Glorfindel’s command. He’s our leader and you’d best get used to that idea. Now, I suggest you go out to your car and bring in some of those weapons you’ve got stashed away. We may need them. Derek, are you weapons trained?"

Derek merely nodded and Amroth smiled. "Good. Off you go, the both of you and meet us in the foyer in ten minutes while Gil and I make sure the emergency doors are secured."

It was a dismissal and they knew it. Reluctantly, at least on Alex’s part, they left to do the Elf’s bidding.