Hey guys, sorry the update took so long. I spent a long time on some scenes in this chapter to get them right, so it took a while. Also I wanted to write more and publish a longer chapter but in the end I thought I'd just put this up as it's about the length of most of the other chapters.
Please R&R!
Of course right about then there should have been a dramatic interruption. Some sort of explosion would have done the trick, or the Russians managing to somehow find their cubbyhole and taking them captive so that Butler could rescue them in some daring manoeuvre. Although as this was real life and that would have led to Artemis being shot and Holly being shot if she was lucky, it was probably a good thing that it didn't.
Instead Artemis sat there with Holly looking straight at him, almost daring him to throw her off or say something awkward. He didn't. Right now his brain was desperately trying not to think about what had just happened. The expression on Holly's face helped matters greatly. A curious mixture of defiance, nervousness and something resembling surprise lay in her eyes. He opened his mouth and closed it again, smiling faintly.
He leaned his head forward slightly and kissed her. Her lips moved slightly, yielding to his touch, and she pushed herself back against him. They both closed their eyes and for that one tiny moment forgot the world around them. Artemis's hand rose up as if of its own accord and gently alighted on her cheek, stroking back into her short, tousled hair. They stayed almost unmoving, keeping the moment in stasis. Then finally she pulled away.
"Artemis, I-"
"Don't, Holly." And she felt that he was right, somehow. Any excuses or discussion would ruin it. It had been a detached experience, something that wouldn't survive in the cruel practicality of the real world. She felt as if their little rabbit-hole was a separate place, where acts like this were possible. If they were wrenched from that space then it would dissipate like mist. Instead she rested her head on his chest, content to leave it at that. For now at least.
*****
Opal, on the other hand, was getting acquainted with Stockholm syndrome. Well not exactly, but she was much less worried than she probably should have been.
"Sorry about that. I had to get you to the 'copter quickly." Sergei had become incredibly charming after he had relaxed. He had a cute little smile as well, and his manly stubble was, well, manly.
"I think I can probably forgive you," she said, practically purring. One of the other men laughed roughly and said something quickly in Sergei's ear that Opal didn't catch. Since her magic had gone she only had a loose grasp of language at best.
"He says you are the most beautiful girl he has ever seen."
"Yes, I know. But tell him thank you for the compliment." She beamed at the man who had spoken who, to her immense surprise, blushed and looked down.
There was something about this group that made them much friendlier than her previous captors. Not only were they casual and chatty, they seemed confidently relaxed in the way that only true professionals are. And they were kitted out with some serious gear. Most likely a covert operations unit for the Russian military, or 'Black Ops' as Butler would call them. Serious business, and not exactly entirely subject to legality, but then again probably better than gangsters.
The helicopter began to rise, the rotors whipping up the snow around them. Then, just as they were leaving the ground, a Stinger missile hit the helicopter from below, smashing it onto its side.
*****
Eventually Butler found them. Smashing a giant fist into the small layer of earth over them, he collapsed the den, giving Artemis and Holly the fright of their lives. He grabbed Artemis by the collar and dragged him to his feet, leaving Holly to crawl out in a rather undignified manner.
"Thank Frond," gasped Holly. "I don't think I could have stood much more of that."
Artemis gave her an odd look which she chose to ignore. "Yes, well done, Butler..."
Holly looked around them, but the men who had been here before were gone. A few lay unconscious, or at least she hoped they were unconscious, and were spread around the landscape. "Good job, big man. I didn't think you had it in you."
Butler paused for a second but recovered almost perfectly. "Watch it, you. I'm not ready for retirement yet."
Artemis rubbed his temples. "All this banter is very 'macho', but could we please focus? We have no idea where Opal has gone, we have no method of finding her and we have no immediate means of transportation."
Holly scowled at him. "Cool it, Artemis." She picked up her helmet and put it back on. "Foaly, are you there?"
"Holly! I thought something had happened to you!"
"Well... something did."
"What?"
"I- never mind. Tell you later. Look, Butler has just found and rescued us but we have no idea where Koboi is. What can you tell us?"
"Oh, right, Opal. Well the only activity I've seen recently was a helicopter being shot down by a surface-to-air missile."
Only? thought Holly exasperatedly. "Where?"
"About half a klick south-east of your current position. Mafiya forces are converging on the area as we speak. I'm detecting about a dozen heat signatures next to the wreckage."
About a dozen, she thought. Even if one of them is Opal they could probably hold out for quite a while in this weather if they're good enough. "We need to start moving," she said.
"Roger that, Holly. You can explain the situation on the move."
*****
"Right, we need to stay hidden, and stay together. Which means, as Artemis cannot turn invisible, we shall have to move very slowly. Foaly, keep us informed on the situation at the crash site."
"Sure thing," said Foaly through the speaker on Holly's helmet. He then opened a private line to Holly. "Hey, Holly, something's not quite right."
"What is it, Foaly?"
"Well, Butler seems different somehow. Aside from the fact that he's here and apparently fully healthy, how the hell did he find you? The den is supposed to be entirely hidden from any radar or infrared scanners."
"I don't know, Foaly, maybe Opal made a scanner that can find it."
"Well, maybe but I don't think that's it. And how come he said that only Artemis couldn't go invisible? Does that mean he can?"
Holly felt uneasy for some reason. "Just leave it, Foaly."
But it was too late. The curious centaur ran a quick scan over Butler to find the hidden sensor and, because he used Holly's iris cam do to it, she saw the results of the scan too.
Butler's body was a complex matrix of fibre optics, circuitry and metal. Foaly hit the cancel button as soon as he could but it was too late for Holly. The iris camera displayed a computer generated image of Butler's body and its composite materials, and the numbers told the story. Only 19% of Butler's body was organic material. The rest was a mixture of electronics, tungsten carbide, ceramics, unknown titanium alloys and a mass of various other plastics, metal matrix composites and carbon compounds that were too numerous to comprehend.
"Oh my god."
"Foaly..."
Holly had stopped moving and the two men turned around.
"What's wrong, Holly?"
"Butler you..." Holly felt water well up in her eyes. Sheer shock caused the tears, the tingling sensation rising at the base of her nose. Butler's face was exactly as it had always been. The huge, gentle man looked concerned, but at the same time Holly could see, could actually see the metal moving inside of him. She felt her throat clench up with emotion.
"Holly? We need to keep moving." Holly's gaze switched from Butler to Artemis, who had just spoken. All at once her shock focused into a white ball of rage. How dare he?
Butler had noticed her tears. "Holly?"
She staggered the few steps to him, touching his chest lightly. "What has she done to you, old friend?"
Artemis's face whitened. "Holly-" he began, then stopped immediately. The look she gave him was terrible.
"Holly, this is not the time," said Butler. "We need to get the job done first."
"But-"
"Please, leave it. For now."
Holly's mind was reeling. The only cogent thought running through her mind, that she kept thinking was: This is her doing. She did this horrific... thing, and she used one of my friends to do it. And Artemis let her.
*****
"Shit!" Sergei swore as a bullet hit the ground just in front of him and ducked down instinctively.
The mafiya soldiers had come in dribs and drabs but had sensibly kept their distance and they had now amassed a force of at least twenty men. Most had AK-47s or just pistols; their weapons were much less impressive than those of the black ops men, but it didn't really matter. They had switched their rifles to single-shot mode and were keeping their distance, reasonably safely secured by their loose formation and the snow that was beginning to fall. It wasn't as if the defenders could go anywhere, after all.
The black ops had quickly dug in; only a couple of them had been injured by the crash and now they were acting quickly and efficiently. Opal could see however that all they were doing was delaying the inevitable. Eventually the enemy would overwhelm them through weight of numbers. Bullets zinged through the snow around them, though most were hopelessly inaccurate. The men kept their heads down, occasionally popping up to burst off a few rounds into what, to Opal, looked like impenetrable whiteness. She herself had been shoved as far back as possible with two men standing over her to take any stray bullets.
Sergei kept a smile up for her sake. "Hey, you ok? Don't worry about this lot, we can handle them, no problem." The fevered activity behind him belied his words but she smiled back encouragingly.
There was a cheer from the Russians; they had found an 82mm mortar which had survived the crash and were now setting it up enthusiastically. Within seconds they had roughly aimed it and drop-fired a round that was immediately whisked away by the blizzard. There was a distant, muffled roar, but Opal had no idea whether it had hit or not, as they immediately prepared another round without celebration.
*****
"What's going on out there, Butler?"
"There are about ten heat signatures just next to the wreckage and about three times that many mafiya hit men surrounding them from all angles. But more are coming all the time."
"And Opal?"
"Yep, she's fine. I'm picking up her implant signal clearly; apart from the cold, all body signs are normal."
"Right." Artemis chewed his bottom lip, concentrating. "Do we have the communicator?"
"Of course."
"And how long do you think they can last?"
"They're good, Artemis, and well armed too. They're clearly trained and experienced at fighting in these conditions, but they can only delay the inevitable - they certainly won't last long enough for any backup to arrive."
"I see." Artemis had mostly worked this out for himself, but bouncing ideas off the experienced bodyguard was a good way of troubleshooting in a hurry. "In that case, I think it's time to negotiate."