Still no Trouble, I'm afraid, but there is some Holly! And Foaly! Let's all be happy together!
Special thanks go to the following - xXBeetle Of DestinyXx, Anare Silvermoon, ht4eva, bubbles, 3SmartGirl, Aria Cantata, pixies.rock.hard, Someone, Veggies are good for you (and specially to you, no, I haven't read the Time Paradox. YET!) and Holly25Trouble. I LOVE YOU ALL!!
DISCLAIMER: You know the drill.
Alora Weirstone hurried to keep up with her mentor, Captain Holly Short. "Why does Foaly want us?" She asked.
"Because he does," Captain Short snapped. Alora didn't take it to heart. The Captain had been snappy ever since that Major had died in the field in a retrieval operation. Truth be told, she was a lot better now than she had been.
Alora followed Holly in silence as the automated doors to Foaly's operation booth opened with barely a hiss.
"Holly!" The centaur whinnied, "How've you been?"
"Great, thanks, Foaly," Holly rubbed her temples, "What did you want us for?"
Us? Alora looked up in surprise. She had assumed the call had just been for Holly and she was just tagging along.
"Sentinel call," Foaly frowned and swivelled to face his beloved computer screens, "Like the one Fowl tripped when Butler had been shot. Originated from a pay phone outside a bakery in Edson, Canada. Loaded with key words, just like the Fowl case. Just a random string of words."
"Go on." Holly nodded, taking a seat and motioning for Alora to do the same.
"Listen," Foaly pulled up the file and pressed play.
"Uh…um…" A female voice, young, quite nervous, "Fairies!" There was a pause, "Goblins! Trolls, B'wa Kell, Holly Short, Grub Kelp, Foaly, Haven! Er…Atlantis, sprites…" The call ended and Foaly pulled up another, his face grim.
"Whoever it was called four other places," He said, "And spouted off the same stuff. And guess what? I checked these places, and they're all directly under each other in the phone book."
"And she knew our names." Holly nodded. "This is serious."
"Oh yes." Foaly nodded. His paranoia must be going into overdrive, Alora thought. She had heard he used to be so paranoid; he had worn a tin foil hat to stop the humans reading his mind. He ought to be on medication!
"And you want us to check it out?" Holly affirmed. Foaly nodded. "Consider it done." Holly stood up and Alora hurried to follow. Foaly gazed after the Captain sorrowfully. She had really taken Trouble's death very hard. He knew she and Grub met up once a week to just keep each other company. He wondered if she would ever really be Holly again.
)O(
--BECAUSE I CAN'T DO SIMPLE SPACES...--
)O(
Freda was in a half doze. She had eaten all her food and bought a bun from the baker before it closed. It had been hours since she had made the call and she wondered if the LEP was coming at all. Maybe she should call some more people just to make sure? But Trouble had said just one would be enough.
Freda decided to Spirit Walk and float above the town so she would have some time to prepare for the LEP's arrival. If they ever arrived. She closed her eyes and let her inner consciousness drift free from the confines of her body.
She rose on an air current and hovered above the town, directly above her body below. She waited for another hour before her sensitive spirit felt two things approaching the town from the south-east.
Freda narrowed her proverbial eyes and studied the things. Or rather, the empty space where the things were meant to be – they were invisible.
This was it! This must be LEPrecon! She spiralled down through the air and sank into her body. As soon as she 'woke up' Freda craned her head up, her eyes searching the dark night sky for the shimmer of a fairy shielding.
She was so focused on the sky she didn't notice the shimmering patches on the wall till her senses warned her. Her head snapped around and fixed its gaze on the top of the wall. The shimmer was barely visible, but it was there. Now what was the passverse?
"Erm, fairies?" Freda tried, "Don't hurt me. Um…Meer anomay kyclamen foly? Yeah, meer anomay kyclamen foly."
Alora opened a channel to Holly, "What should we do? She knows the old passverse."
Holly rolled her eyes under her visor. State the obvious why don't you? "Foaly?" She spoke into her helmet mike, "You there?"
"All the way, Captain," Foaly's voice was cheerful over the mike.
"Did you hear what the Mud Girl just said?" Holly asked snarkily. "What should we do? Bring her in?"
"I'll ask the Commander." Foaly sounded less chipper now and Holy felt a twinge of guilt.
"Well she knows we're here, so…" Holly prompted.
"Follow protocol," Foaly told her, "Don't show yourself, don't communicate…"
"Thank you, Foaly, I know the protocol." Holly cut him off and Foaly whinnied hurtfully before cutting the line. Holly sighed. What was wrong with her? She was pushing away one of the few people who still cared about her.
Still, work went on. "Alora," Holly said, "You heard the centaur. Follow protocol."
Meanwhile, Freda was regarding them nervously. "Well you haven't shot me," She started to talk to them and herself to fill the silence, "Which is a good thing. But you're not saying anything either, so you could be talking to your bosses back at base and getting instructed to shoot me, which is a bad thing.
"And you're still not doing anything," Freda laughed nervously. "Well Trouble said that in this kind of situation you'd bring me in and interview me then give me a mind wipe…"
Holly was shell shocked. Trouble? As in…Trouble? Trouble Kelp? Trouble Kelp who was dead? Who had been dead for almost eight months now?
Without thinking about the consequences, Holly unshielded and flicked up her visor. The girl looked surprised, then happy, then afraid, then wary. Holly activated her wings and flew down to hover at eye level with the girl.
"Who's Trouble?" She asked harshly. The girl studied her for a moment, taking in her brown skin and cropped red hair.
"You're Holly aren't you?" The girl grinned, "Captain Holly Short LEPrecon unit!"
Holly took a deep breath. "How do you know who I am? And more importantly, what do you know about Major Kelp?"
The girl's face dropped the smile, "He's hurt, in danger. We need to rescue him; I promised I would be back for him."
"Where is he?" Holly asked briskly, concealing the hope exploding violently in her chest.
"Miles away," The girl said, "Down the long road. I'm Freda by the way. I could show you what he was like when I last saw him…"
Holly frowned, "How? Do you have video footage?"
Freda shook her head, "I have mind-footage. I can show you…here…" She reached out her hands and touched Holly's head lightly with the tips of her grubby fingers.
Holly gasped as sounds and images flowed into her mind. She saw a fat man pinning a skinny, dirty elf barely recognisable as Trouble Kelp up against a wall in some sort of filthy trailer then throwing him to the floor and kicking him viciously in the gut.
Freda took her fingers away and nodded sadly, "We need to get him out. Luther will be hurting him maybe even as we speak. I promised I'd go back for him."
Holly regarded the human through hazel eyes. Then she made one of the snap decisions she was famous for.
"We will go back for him." She said, "Right now. Alora!" She turned to the other shimmer, "Go back to the chute. I'm going after Trouble. Tell Foaly he's alive and in danger. I'll call for back up if it's needed. Go!"
The shimmer rose without a sound and flew away. Holly turned to Freda and pulled a length of Cam Foil out of her backpack. "How do you feel about flying?"
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