A/N- Since my first chapter was so short, I'm putting the second one up at the same time. Enjoy.
Disclaimer- I own only what is mine.
CHAPTER ONE: THE CONFINES OF BOREDOM
Mulch Diggums was idly sitting in his cell, bored to tears. Two months had gone by since the mind-wipe of Artemis Fowl and they were still reviewing Mulch's file. 'What does it take to get something done quickly around here?' Mulch thought.
Mulch expertly tossed the gold coin up into the air and caught it on his toe. It was a trick he had become quite good at during his stay at the local penitentiary. 'Even if the coin doesn't restore Fowl's memory, at least it'll have been good for something,' the dwarf thought dejectedly.
Mulch sighed, already bored with his trick. He lay down on his cot and started to count the ceiling tiles (even though he already knew there were 87 [not that that mattered]).
The stir-crazy dwarf stopped at 43. He's never been this bored in jail before. That might have to do with the fact that during his other imprisonments there wasn't that slim possibility of being set free.
It was really too bad he didn't have anything to occupy his time with. Mulch was beginning to regret his life of crime, and for a dwarf with no regrets, that was saying quite a lot.
"How many bars does the door have?" Mulch wondered aloud, "Nineteen or 20?" He turned to count, and was surprised to see Captain Holly Short, of LEPrecon, peering back at him.
"Neither," she stated, "twenty-one."
Mulch quickly masked his surprise, "Captain Short, good ta see ya! Come to pay an old friend a visit?"
Holly grinned, "You don't have any friends Mulch. I'm here to escort you to the Conference Room."
The dwarf could have sworn his heart skipped a beat, "Are they done reviewing my case?"
She shrugged, "I don't question orders; I just follow 'em."
Mulch snorted in disbelief, "Yeah right. You just keep telling yourself that. Pretend all of your screw-ups were because you followed orders and did everything the way you were supposed to. You'll be in for a rude awakening if you're fired."
Holly would have stuck her tongue out at him, but that would be childish. Fortunately she was spared from having to come up with a witty retort by a voice in her ear.
"Captain Short! Why are you taking so long in retrieving the convict?!?!?" Root's voice bellowed in the elf's ear.
"Not my fault, sir. Apparently I caught Mulch with his pants down. Literally." Holly could have sworn she heard a little cackle as the Commander ended the transmission.
Mulch gaped at Holly in horror, "How dare…how could…that was mean," he finished lamely.
The Captain merely grinned while unlocking the door, "Don't even think about running away. I was told to not show any mercy."
Mulch gulped. A Holly without mercy was not something you wanted to see. He decided to co-operate; he didn't feel like dying today.
"Alright, I'll co-operate," the dwarf got up and walked over to Holly, "Lead me to my impending doom." He stretched his arms out in front of him, as if to say 'Cuff me now.'
Holly grinned, "I'm not going to cuff you, Mulch. An old friend deserves much better treatment. I'm using a more unconventional method." She fingered the buzz baton at her waist for emphasis, "Follow me."
Mulch obeyed. Between facing the wrath of an armed Captain Short and facing a goblin, he'd take the goblin.
After taking a long walk down many winding corridors, and having one inmate admitted into the hospital wing because he whistled at Holly, the pair reached the Conference Room. At first Mulch thought the room was on fire due to the large amount of smoke in it, but then he realized that Commander Root was smoking one of his trademark, toxic fungus cigars. Across the table from Root was Mulch's attorney, a pretty elf (whose name he could not for the life of him recall) who was trying desperately not to inhale too much smoke.
When the Commander saw his Captain and the convict he put out his cigar. Mulch's lawyer didn't look too upset at this.
Once Holly and Mulch were seated Root began the procedure, "Ms. Thistle, would you please take out Mr. Diggums file?"
'Aha,' Mulch thought, 'that's what her name is. Ms. Thistle.'
Ms. Thistle pulled out a manilla folder packed with papers. About as thick as the distance from the tip of you thumb to the tip of your pointer finger, "Since the jail's computer system is currently being updated, and for some reason all electronics have been forbidden, with the exception of LEP material," here she sent Root and Holly and withering glance, "so until they are done updating we have to use more…primitive methods."
Mulch had to surpress a smile when he saw his file. It looked so much more extensive than when he had seen it on the computer.
"As you can see Mr. Diggums has been a rather busy dwarf," Ms. Thistle began, "but apparently the scribe made an error. The date on this document here," she opened the folder and pointed to the paper on top, "is not in conjunction to the actual date upon which…"
Mulch leaned back and contentedly sighed. He didn't understand all the legal mumbo jumbo, but judging from the fact that Root's face was taking on a purplish hue, Mulch was ready to be that the Commander would have to let him go.
"…so therefore Mr. Diggums must be released from this penitentiary establishment."
Root was about to say the hardest thing he would ever have to say. In fact he had to call upon every once of self-control he had to not start yelling, "Alright, he's free to go."
Mulch actually jumped up and whooped. And it is quite a spectacle to see a dwarf jump, because they so rarely let their feet leave the ground.
Root's face was an extremely nasty purple colour. Holly seemed impassive. Ms. Thistle looked triumphant. And Mulch was ecstatic!
The ex-convict, now free dwarf saluted Commander Root and Captain Short, shook his attorney's hand, and practically danced out of the room.
"Short, you're excused. Take the next shuttle out," Root dismissed his officer, feeling as if someone had stolen his favourite fungus cigars.
As Holly was walking out the front doors, a breathless elf in LEP uniform stopped her. "Captain Short…you're needed…at Howler's…Peak. You've…already been given…clearance."
Holly nodded, puzzled and walked away. Clearance already? She decided not to ponder it and made her way to the shuttle stop. In addition to having shuttles that went up to the surface Haven also had shuttles that were used as a transportation system around the city. Sort of like a bus route.
It was quite surprising that there was a shuttle straight to Howler's Peak, especially since it was rarely used. In fact Holly was the only one to exit the shuttle at the stop, and she couldn't help but feel glad that she didn't have to walk 10 blocks.
An ominous fort stood before her. Barred windows, bullet (and fire) proof windows and walls, limestone foundation and a seven-foot tall stonewall with barbed wire on top. A convict's worst nightmare. Howler's Peak had started out as a goblin prison, but soon began to accommodate all species. However the majority of the convicted population remained goblin.
Holly had only been to Howler's Peak once before. Something that she never thought about, but still had to occasionally shove away. She walked up to the front gate and pressed the intercom button. "Hello, this is Captain Holly Short of the LEP. I was told to report here."
The doors swung open in reply. Nervously Holly entered, walked up the front path, and went through the front doors. The receptionist greeted her. "Hi. Glad you could make it on such short notice." Here the receptionist smiled a pink lipstick smile, "I'm Shirley, and you can report to the second floor, three doors down from the elevator lift. Seventh door down from the stairway."
Holly opted for the stairs; the music in elevators drove her crazy. There was a nervous-looking guard outside the seventh door. "Captain Short?"
Holly nodded, "That's me."
The guard looked pensive, "You seem very familiar. I think I remember you from when you were a child. Were you the one who…?"
Holly cut him off, "Probably. Now why was I called down here?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry. Please won't you step inside?"
He opened the door and walked in with Holly closely following. She hoped she'd get out of here quickly; this place brought back too many memories. Ones she didn't nessecarily want to remember.
The guard sat down and gestured for Holly to do the same. She complied. "This morning we discovered that one of our inmates had escaped. A pixie by the name of Opal Koboi. All that was found in her cell was this note addressed to you." He handed her the note, "We just wanted to give you the note."
"Thank you," she said and left the room. Leaning against the wall, she opened the letter:
Dear Captain Short,
I'm coming for you.
Love always,
Opal Koboi
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A/N- That's it. Please review.