People seemed to want a sequel, so that's exactly what this is. I can tell you one thing, it's even more full on action-wise than 'Dark' was. Dark was perhaps a little rushed in that respect, but hopefully 'Attack on Haven' is much more enjoyable. There are a few new characters thrown into the mix as well, just to shake things up.
ATTACK ON HAVEN
Artemis hadn't been joking about buying Holly a place in Dubai. She should have known he wasn't one to make jokes, but she seriously hadn't expected him to buy her an apartment. It was only a small, 2 bed type of thing, but it was more than she would ever have been able to afford by herself, even converting fairy currency to a more useable form. Holly was now 3 weeks into her 3 month suspension for killing Eduardo Ortega, a Colombian Cocaine baron and businessman who had kidnapped both herself and her human sidekick, now boyfriend, Artemis Fowl for his prototype signal jammer. Those mitigating circumstances were the only reason she still had a police job to go back to, such was the magnitude of killing a human above ground. Artemis had offered to take the blame, but Holly refused to let him lie for her, especially as the fairies were starting to finally warm to him. Foaly, Haven's resident genius Centaur and tech guy for the Lower Elements Police, had advised Holly to stay on the surface until things calmed down, but her Commander, Trouble Kelp, had almost had a meltdown at the suggestion of her spending any more time with Artemis Fowl. He had an even worse reaction when Holly and Artemis revealed to him that they were officially a couple (Let's just say, some things were broken in the process), and only an overriding vote from the LEP Council and some creative blackmail from Foaly, who had threatened to leak a video of Trouble and a 'lady friend' to the media, which impressed Artemis no end, stopped him from doing anything further. It impressed him even more when Foaly revealed he didn't actually have the video. Despite that, she had only been granted a 1 month leave to the surface- though that in itself was a record for longest surface visa ever issued. Both Holly and Artemis had spent the first week at Fowl Manor, but with Artemis' parents, Angeline and Artemis Fowl Sr, returning from a holiday to Jamaica, Artemis had told Holly about the place in Dubai. She had been equal parts shocked, and equal parts relieved that she didn't yet have to face everyone back in Haven. So, for the next 2 weeks they had been out in Dubai, but now Holly wanted to go home, back to her house and her fairy friends, even if that did mean having to face up to Trouble. And, of course, she was going to bring Artemis with her. But, aside from Foaly who knew everything, she just wasn't going to tell anybody.
The sun was beating down outside as the day approached 2pm, so it was lucky for Holly that she was inside. Fairies, and elves in particular, have a super sensitivity to temperature. Usually it would be the cold that got to Holly the most, but the blazing 42oC heat outside was enough to make Holly want to stay under the air conditioning forever. No, there were things to pack, and then she would have to venture outside in order to get to E94, the closest place to Holly that could get both her and Artemis to Haven, The People's largest city. Shuttle Ports were placed all around the world, but less so in the Middle East. Not that it bothered Holly too much, Butler would be driving after all.
"Artemis!" Holly shouted down the hall. "Have you finished packing your suitcase yet?"
As if to answer her, Artemis appeared in her room, wheeling his almost overfull suitcase.
"Dear Frond Artemis, how much stuff have you got in there?"
"As much as I could fit in. I am visiting you for 3 weeks after all."
Holly pretended to look unimpressed. "You do know I can wash your clothes whilst you're here, right?"
"Yes" He said, then added "That's the only reason I'm not bringing 2 suitcases."
"You're unbelievable. Surely you don't just have clothes in that case?"
"No, there is a little something else in there. But mainly clothes."
Suddenly, Butler appeared in the doorway. "Are we all ready to go?"
"I'm ready to rock and roll" Holly said playfully. Butler merely nodded, showing nothing in the form of emotion. He led them out of the apartment and straight into the waiting Mercedes. Artemis and Holly dived into the back, which afforded them the luxury of blacked out windows. That didn't make much of a difference to Artemis, but it was certainly useful for Holly. If they were by any chance going to pass somebody on the road, she'd rather they didn't see her pointy ears through the window.
"How long until we reach E94?" Artemis asked as they set off.
"2 hours" Butler replied, wrestling the steering wheel as the car sped up. They were soon cruising at a cool 180mph. "It's mainly straight roads, so we can keep the speed up."
"And you complain about me driving fast" Artemis commented, looking carefully at the speedometer.
"That's because you drive fast in the wrong places. I swear I'm never letting you take a corner at 120 ever again."
Holly gave Artemis a look that told him he should shut up if he didn't want to be explaining to her why he was taking a corner at 120mph, so he said no more about it during the rest of the drive. 1 hour and 53 minutes later, they had arrived at E94.
"Are you sure you'll be OK by yourself" Butler asked, just as Artemis and Holly were about to cross the threshold.
"Yes Butler, I will be fine. Besides, I have Holly to protect me" Artemis replied. Holly gave him a playful shove when he mentioned her name.
"I know Artemis, but ever since the OWI incident-"
"Butler, you don't have to say it again. It's not your fault we were separated. Besides, this is a holiday, there are no more evil schemes that are going to get me in trouble."
"Still Artemis, look what happened because I wasn't there. I'm not sure I can stand not being able to protect you again."
"I will be fine"
"You'd probably scare half of Haven to death anyway" Holly added. Butler didn't respond, he just glared at her.
"Fine Artemis, I will let you go." He turned to Holly. "Look after him Holly."
"Don't worry" She replied as they crossed the threshold, "I'll make sure he's safe."
Stepping into E94 was a weird sensation for Artemis; For Holly, she had done this so many times before that it was second nature. She had, however, never been to E94. There was never much of a need for her to travel to the Middle East. Indeed, there wasn't a need for many fairies to travel to that region, to the point where visas were regularly refused and the whole place was automated so that no poor Gnomes or Elves had to sit there with nothing to do all year.
"Well Artemis" Holly began as they passed through into the docking bay "Are you ready for your first trip to Haven as a willing passenger?"
"I'm not sure 'ready' is the right word. Willing perhaps, but I don't think I'll ever be ready for the way you pilot those pods."
Holly let an evil grin come across her face. Oh Artemis, you have no idea.
"I'll try to go gentle on you. So, we'll have plenty of time down in Haven" Holly said, changing the subject. "Anything in particular you want to do?"
"Well" Artemis replied, "I think seeing our friend Foaly down at Police Plaza is something to go on the list. I need to see what new technology he has that I can hack."
"You two really need to stop hacking each other's equipment."
"My dear Holly, we will never stop hacking each other's equipment."
Holly laughed to herself. Artemis and Foaly's petty hacking war was one of the many things that made them such good friends. Infact, Foaly was one of the few Artemis dared to actually call a friend. Others included Mulch the maniac criminal dwarf. Notice the term 'criminal' in that description. Holly used to be on the list, but she had now been somewhat upgraded to 'girlfriend'. Funnily enough, there weren't any humans that made the list, though Holly guessed he would include Butler if the guy wasn't his protector.
"Maybe we could wait a few days? I'd rather not run into Trouble right now."
"Of course you don't. Fear not Holly, if we do see him, I'll be there to stand up for you."
"Are you going to get in the pod or what?" Holly asked. They were finally at the platform.
"I so wish there was another way into Haven" Artemis said, climbing aboard. Holly followed him. Once they were in, she grabbed his hand. He bent down as she went to whisper in his ear.
"Don't worry Artemis, I'll make sure you enjoy the ride."
And then she was gone, into the pilot's seat. Whilst she couldn't guarantee Artemis actually would enjoy it, it was certainly going to be a hell of a lot of fun.
And there we have the end of the first chapter. I hope you're all enjoying it so far. Don't worry, things will pick up the pace soon.
Chapter 2: 'Brave New World' will be uploaded on 10th August 2016. Until then.
