Disclaimer: I do own some things, amongst them a plush dinosaur, a windup hamster and red shoes. I, however, do not own Artemis Fowl.
Chapter Seven
Biysk, Russia
A man sat at a small desk in a dingy internet café and smiled contentedly. Fowl may have had some narrow escapes before, but this time he was all but checkmated. Looking down at his hands, the man's smile dropped away to be replaced with a look that could only be anger. Anger at remembering just what exactly Fowl had put him through. Oh yes, Fowl's time was definitely coming to an end.
Helsinki-vantaa airport
Once they had arrived in Helsinki, Artemis immediately directed Butler towards the nearest hotel to the airport at which the Lear jet had been stored. The airport officials had become very accommodating at the promise of a large donation to the staff lounge. Normally Artemis would have refused to even consider renting a room which wasn't five star; but he supposed that forgoing the extra star was the price one paid for needing to save an entire civilisation. 'And,' he comforted himself, 'it will only be for a short while…' Once they had convinced the woman at the front desk that, no, they didn't want any extra towels and had made it up to their room; they began to put Artemis' plan into place.
The back of an armoured van, Helsinki
Holly groaned and attempted to rub the back of her head. "I take back anything I ever said about life without the LEP being boring."
Mulch nodded. "My beard hair is never going to be the same."
Sool turned a shade of puce reminiscent of Julius Root. "For Frond's sake, dwarf! Think about something important for a change – like my career!"
Holly shot Sool a glare that could have melted metal. "Or how about the fate of our entire civilisation?"
The backseat of a rented limousine, entering Helsinki
Bade glanced at his watch and smiled. They were running right on time. He allowed himself the luxury of pausing in the rehearsal of his acceptance speech to imagine the adoring crowds he would soon attract. He closed his eyes. He imagined seeing himself on the covers of magazines, having biographies written about him, getting copious of fan mail which he could blissfully ignore …
The chauffeur glanced in the rear-view mirror. His passenger was currently waving to apparent adoring, and invisible, crowds. Johannes shook his head. The rich were always the weirdest.
LEP Operations Booth, Haven
Foaly gave an extra spin in his wheely chair for good luck. Then he flexed his fingers and got to work. He may make hacking look easy, but even for someone of his intellect it took a bit of concentration. Especially when one was working on the scale that Artemis demanded. But after a couple of minutes his furious key tapping and a couple of well placed swats to the heads of interruptive interns Foaly allowed himself a grin and another couple of spins. And his mother had said that all that time infiltrating gnomespace.gom was a waste of time …
Room 615, A Hotel, Helsinki
Artemis looked in the mirror and tugged at his clothes with a slight grimace. "I shall never understand what my peer group sees in these ridiculous 'hoodies'. If the very existence of our friends was not at stake, I would have left these in the storage compartment."
Butler allowed himself a small smile. "Well, as much as you dislike it Artemis, you do make a very good teenager."
His charge simply scoffed. "I am going to incinerate these as soon as we arrive home. They may have come in useful this time, but I miss my suits."
Their conversation was interrupted by the rather loud sound of a phone vibrating. Artemis quickly picked up. "Foaly. How is your segment of the plan advancing?"
"I am going to have so much fun doing this, Fowl." A rather horsy laugh rang in Artemis' ear and he quickly moved the receiver out of such close proximity to his head.
"Is it ready to be initiated?"
"Sure is Mud Man; all I have to do is push the figurative little red button."
"Good. I shall send you an SMS when the time comes, and hopefully you will receive it in an appropriate amount of time."
"Yes, Fowl, you have already explained this you know. No need to show off."
Artemis sniffed, slightly offended. "Until then, Foaly"
"Näkemiin!"
Artemis slipped his phone into one of the numerous pockets on his jeans as he turned to face Butler. "Well, my old friend, it is time to commence."
