Disclaimer: I really don't own it, guys, how many disclaimers do I have to write before it sinks in?
Author's Note: I originally had a little rant written here about my annoyance at people urging me to review in a less-than-polite manner. I took it down, though, because, I realized afterwards that it was quite harsh, and I'm very sorry to anyone who might've thought the comments were directed towards them. I really didn't mean it. (And while I was editing, I fixed a few spelling errors, too!)
As for further updates, I can promise one around Thanksgiving break. I'll be home to write on Wednesday of next week so I should have it up by Friday. Though, after the new year, I can't be sure since I'll have an even heavier load of schoolwork and swimming to get through. With a rough estimate, I think I have about 5 chapters and an epilogue more to do, but a lot of the end is already written. So hopefully, at any rate, I'll be done with this story before spring rolls around. Hopefully.
And one more thing: my little quiz question to all you crazy bookworms out there? The correct answer was Hannibal by Thomas Harris (the book, not the series). Sure, Silence of the Lambs was probably better in conception, but in my story, I see way more parallels to Hannibal. But that's only because I'm crazy like that. And congrats to shadowweaver1 who was the only one to get it right!
So, finally, here we go:
Chapter 14 Of Dreams and Schemes
Cape Horn, situated at the very tip of South America, is hailed as the southernmost point in the all the continents. If one catches the fickle cape on a good day, he might stand on a jutting cliff and remark upon the beautiful view it offers. But of course, the cape has a dark side, hosting the Drake Passage, where two of Magellan's four ships perished, and sent another scurrying back to Europe, terrified at the hazards the passage presented. In fact, even nowadays, few people choose to sail through the perilous route.
It is probably a good thing, then, that the crew aboard the two fairy shuttles was not planning to sail. At any rate, the plan they were to pursue had enough risks without high winds and unpredictable weather to further complicate the situation.
"This doesn't look good," Minerva noted, exercising a talent for pointing out the obvious as the shuttle jutted through the early morning mist to reveal a landscape fraught with rather foreboding crags. Indeed, today, the cape truly did seem to resemble the edge of the world.
"It doesn't matter," Artemis replied, completely nonchalant. "This leg of the plan is perfectly safe, and really quite simple if you consider the other possibilities. That's why I won't be participating."
"Excuse me?" Minerva and Holly asked, simultaneously surprised by this latest progression. It was a historic moment, given that that was perhaps the first thing they had ever agreed on.
"This is where you get the chance to enthrall me with your acumen, Minerva," Artemis replied serenely. "Though I expect it won't actually require the use of too many brain cells; all you have to do is secure a way into the facility and plant a fiber optic blocker."
"But isn't this where Sool is?" Minerva inquired, clearly anxious by the crease that occupied her brow.
"Of course," Artemis shrugged. "But there's no need to disturb him into believing there is any risk of intervention until our plan is complete. Afterwards, there will be plenty of time to take him into custody."
"And let me guess, you plan to disarm his bio bomb alone?" Minerva asked, "even though it is so dangerous?"
"Hardly," Artemis answered coolly. "Holly and Juliet will be with me, and Foaly, over the airwaves, of course."
"I see," Minerva replied, her cropped blonde curls dipping to her shoulders in a brief nod. If it had been quite a blow to her ego when Artemis blatantly rejected her the previous night, this was a million times worse. Even if these decisions were for the sake of the mission, it was only too clear in the subtle innuendo Minerva detected, that she was, and had never been, the first in his mind.
Holly eased the shuttle on to the ground, and allowed the doors to slide open. "I suppose this is your stop then?" she said, with no small amount of satisfaction that the smug French girl would not be accompanying them. "Have fun."
Artemis, of course, in the typical ignorant manner of males, did not recognize the subtle game of power play that was in action right before his eyes. Amazing how even genii are not privy to the mysterious methods that females of every species, it seems, practice.
"You aren't expecting me to go alone, are you?" Minerva asked, looking quite scandalized at the thought of dirtying her perfectly manicured nails with actual physical exercise.
"Of course not," Artemis said curtly, beginning to tire of Minerva's arrogant attitude. Was this really how the rest of the world saw him? If so, he expected that even he would consider himself to be rather repugnant. "Trouble Kelp and his comrades will be accompanying you."
"Oh," Minerva replied, appearing somewhat disappointed. She merely stood in the doorway of the shuttle as if waiting for something.
"Now, would you mind going now?" Artemis said, tapping his pianist's fingers rather impatiently on the dashboard. "We have a mission of utmost importance to attend to and as always, time is of the essence."
Holly repressed an urge to push the stupid mud girl out of her shuttle, but settled for smirking in silence. And even better, the grouping caught two stink worms with one skewer— not only would Minerva be ousted but Trouble was also absent. After all, lately, he hardly qualified as pleasant company.
The very same Trouble Kelp was gathering his forces outside in the already chilly September weather. Needless to say, he was not in the best of moods, not only because of the rather disturbing event he had witnessed only the night before, but because his mollycoddling mother had just called. And obviously, it wasn't for his sake, but for Grub's, who, inconveniently, wasn't present on this mission, giving Mrs. Kelp a chance to berate her grown-up son about letting his younger brother out of his sight.
Therefore, Kelp was even more frustrated at Holly Short than it would already render the average male to find his ex of two days sleeping with a human, of all people. And now, she thought she had the right to send his brother home? So what if Grub was technically her subordinate? He was his brother, after all, and no one had the right to command him except for Trouble.
The human girl descended from the other shuttle, no less irked than the fairy commander, especially as the shuttle promptly jetted off, knocking Minerva quite bodily from her perch on the steps. Thankfully, she landed on the rocky Chilean soil entirely unharmed, with the exception of her dented pride, of course.
"Alright," she muttered, clearly chagrined at her less-than-graceful entrance. "So where's this residence of Sool's?"
"It's about half a klick north," Trouble replied coldly, glancing at his wrist computer. "I assume you have a plan?"
"Of course I have a plan," Minerva answered, equally wintry, "but there is no use revealing it now. Let's go."
"I think I have a right to know what I'm marching my troops into, if you could spare the moment to divulge this supposedly brilliant scheme of yours," Trouble replied, digging his heels into the ground and making it perfectly clear that he was not about to budge without prior knowledge.
Minerva considered it for a beat. As much as she liked the idea of her, not Artemis, being the elusive mastermind of this piece for once, she would like it even more if she could just do her part and then get back to her chateau ASAP. Her leather armchair and a flute of 1982 Bordeaux seemed like heaven compared to the frigid desolation of Southern Chile.
"Fine," she finally agreed, and projected a 3-D image from her own handheld computer, its laser blue lines criss-crossing the bleak Cape skies. "Listen up, because I'm only going to say this once."
Contrary to popular belief, not all blondes are ditzy and dim-witted, and Juliet Butler was certainly not one of them. So she couldn't make sense of high school calculus or comprehend many of the convoluted schemes of a certain Irish criminal mastermind, but she surely wasn't stupid, and not in the least bit blind. But in this case, it is likely that even one with Lili Frond's brain power was capable of seeing the barely shielded exchange that was taking place in the cockpit.
"Cute, huh?" Juliet said, nodding toward where Artemis and Holly sat exchanging words that were highly unlikely to be related to the mission. Meanwhile, upon entering the shuttle, Mulch had immediately setting to work on emptying the shuttle's cooler. He may have already had plenty to eat, both of Butler's cookery and the poor critters he had chanced upon tunneling through the fertile soils of Ireland, but wherever there was food, you can be sure a dwarf would take advantage of the situation.
"If you mean in a weird, cross-species sort of way," Mulch replied, currently munching on substances unknown.
"Well, Smelly, you wouldn't know love if it danced the can-can in front of you," Juliet retorted.
"Uh-huh, and when's the last time you've ever been with anyone, Stinker?" Mulch smirked. He may not have been the most popular dwarf in school, considering the unavoidable odor and rather distasteful...excecrations, but even he had some stories to tell.
"For your information, just last year," Juliet answered. It was true— to a certain extent, meaning, in other words, a single dinner date and a movie. After all, being a wrestler wasn't all fun and games; training tended to take up a large portion of one's free time, too.
"But really, you would think that little Arty's learned to use his brains by now," Mulch burped. "Going for Holly right under Trouble's eye was a real smart move."
"And how would you know about using brain cells, Mulch, when you've got all of three IQ points?" Surprisingly, it was Foaly's voice that piped up, apparently in the form of a bouncing helmet with a frighteningly accurate virtual model of the centaur projecting from it.
"That's just creepy, Foaly," Juliet said, raising one eyebrow.
"Oh big deal," the holo-centaur retorted. "Anyways, you guys have got better things to worry about."
"Like what?" Mulch asked charily. "I swear, if this involves any more of me putting my life on the line for this save-the-world agenda you've got going on, it isn't happening."
"Um, well," Foaly seemed a bit uncomfortable, even in his virtual form. "It won't be that hard…"
"Spit it out, donkey," Mulch sighed mockingly. "Still need old Diggums to save your skin, huh?"
"Well, through my incredible genius and my new software database that compiles the specifications of every building in Haven for easy searching…" Foaly began on his typically monotonous technology lecture, knowing quite comfortingly that the worst Mulch could do to him was swallow the helmet. "Anyways, I found the plant."
"Let me guess, this involves me digging through radioactive waste or something equally life-threatening? Oh Mulch, do this, Diggums, do that! And what do I get in return?" Mulch whined, exasperating enough to merit a quick rabbit punch from Juliet.
"Your moaning is really getting on my nerves, Smelly," Juliet said. "Next time, it's the jade ring for you."
Mulch, being in possession of slightly more IQ points than what Foaly personally suspected and having watched several human wrestling videos featuring the Jade Princess, decided to shut his mouth and listen to Foaly's lecture about nuclear plants and whatnot.
"Look, it's like this," Foaly explained. "We just need a way into this plant, without setting off any sensors, because Sool will be monitoring his precious bio-bomb for sure. And I happen to know that a certain kleptomaniac dwarf has robbed this place before."
"You robbed a nuclear power plant?" Juliet asked, astonished. "What for?"
"It was a dare," Mulch admitted, "centuries ago, in my youth. They've almost definitely hiked up the security by now."
"But you know the layout," Foaly pressed. "Come on, Mulch, do this right and I can almost promise you a metal. Real gold, this time, too, not Arty's little coin/necklace thing."
"Almost, donkey-boy?" Mulch tut-tuted. "Nope, almost ain't gonna cut it. You're gonna have to give me something before I do anything for you again."
"I promise, okay?" Foaly ground his teeth in annoyance. "And if the Council tells me to bugger off, then I'll just shut down the security in Police Plaza for a night and let you sack the place. Deal?"
"Deal," Mulch agreed, relishing the idea of getting his hands on whatever treasures Police Plaza held. Besides, that donkey must really be desperate if he was willing to put his head on the chopping block, so to speak, and ask the Council to give a medal to an ex-convict.
If his twenty-two years had proved anything, it was that romance was not Artemis's strong point, to say in the least. And yet, he found himself in the close vicinity with the most…amazing member of the female race and at an absolute loss for words, something that only happened around Holly Short.
So instead, he spent several minutes discreetly watching her. Her auburn curls were tucked behind those stunningly pretty pointed ears— did Artemis Fowl II just think that a girl's ears were pretty? Anyways, her mismatched eyes were fixed on the foggy morning skies that stretched out over the bitterly chilly Atlantic Ocean, and her slim fingers clutched on the shuttle's controls, expertly maneuvering them toward the nearest fairy shuttleport in Buenos Aires.
"You know, it almost seemed like you were trying to get Minerva out of here," Holly said, interrupting the momentary tranquility that had fallen over the pair. "And it doesn't hurt that Trouble and Ash are too."
"If anyone asks, it was well-suited for the sake of the mission at hand and whatever…other consequences the situation may have granted were simply coincidence, of course," Artemis replied.
"Of course," Holly repeated, a smug smirk stretching over her features. She reached one gloved hand down to switch the shuttle on autopilot; after all, it was only a simple flight to Buenos Aires and if the shuttle design was half as brilliant as Foaly claimed, the thing could fly perfectly fine without her. As for Holly, well, she had other things to be doing…
"You know, I still can't quite comprehend how this all happened," Artemis remarked, moments later, upon discovering he and Holly to be propped awkwardly in between the two seats. Needless to say, the cramped cockpit of an LEP shuttle, even a relatively expensive and lavish one, was not made for making out, especially if a human was involved in said making out.
"Hmmm…funny, neither can I," Holly muttered, laughing. She stretched to nudge a control with her foot, sliding closed the partition door between the cockpit and the rest of the shuttle, though a few moments too late. Juliet and Mulch were staring, not to mention Foaly and his bouncing helmet, but neither Artemis nor Holly particularly cared. In fact, Artemis was currently distracted in amazement that Holly could manage to be so...sexy even when she was fully dressed. Ah, stop it, he quickly chastised himself. You're supposed to an impassive criminal mastermind, so for goodness sakes, act like it.
Knocking himself out of his reverie, Artemis pointed out the obvious, but uncomfortable reality, "You know this can't go on."
"I know," Holly groaned at the thought of the red tape she was going to have to sort through upon her return to Haven. "But the Council isn't here now and neither is their little waterboy, Trouble."
"Last night was a mistake," Artemis went on despite how strongly his hormones urged, "I won't have you kicked out of the LEP because of me."
"I'll figure it out somehow," Holly waved it away, not wanting to care, not right now, when she and Artemis were together, so perfectly together. "I think what you really need to ask yourself is do you really love me?"
"Of course," Artemis replied at once, his hand on Holly's, their fingers interwoven, fitting together flawlessly. "But you must know how crazy this is."
"I do," she answered, "But that's for later. This is for now."
And with that she bent over the mud boy, kissing him— not just an offhand peck, but a deep, passionate kiss. He gladly returned the embrace, holding her as close as possible, wishing that the moment could last forever, despite the ancient prejudices that had always held their races apart.
"Hmm, that's more like it," Holly said, laughing. She lied down on the floor of the shuttle, next to Artemis, making the scene even stranger.
"Do you ever wonder if our worlds could ever be united again?" Artemis asked after a moment's silence, the underlying cause of their troubles (no pun intended) still unassauged in his mind. An awfully contemplative question, even for him.
"All the time," Holly sighed. "But face it, if it ever does, it probably won't be for centuries, millennia, even."
"And I don't suppose that I made a particularly good impression for the case that humans aren't as bad as most of the People seem to think?"
"Hardly," Holly answered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Even people like Trouble and Vinyaya can barely tolerate us being friends, let alone...you know. You're right: when the manure hits the air circulator, there's going to be hell to pay."
"I wonder sometimes though," Artemis admitted. "If there is prejudice everywhere, how will it ever end?"
"You know what?" Holly said, "Sometimes, you think too much."
And thus, the making out resumed, the two thankfully oblivious to the further trials and tribulations that fate had schemed up for them. The only upside to the whole affair was that at least Trouble was not present to report them for inappropriate behavior.
However, Artemis and co. probably had much to be grateful for, given that if Sool had still been commander, Holly would've gotten fired from the LEP for these little misconducts before one could even utter the full name of the mud boy in question. But nowadays, Sool was not trying to fire the infamous LEP major, but instead, attempting to kill her. Yes, of course, they had much to be thankful for.
And what was Sool up to while all this drama was occurring at Fowl Manor? Dreaming and scheming of course. From his lair in what he believed to be a safe haven, he contemplated the events of the past forty-eight hours.
He had had the upper hand by any measurement, holding the rather helpless younger sister of Holly Short captive, and the knowledge of her deepest secrets, not to mention the trap that he had carefully laid for the team that would surely come knocking on the door. It was absolute perfection— there was no other word for it. And they said he was dim.
But that Holly Short, even in death she was impetuous, as Sool soon discovered the small piece of clear gel on the otherwise smooth exterior of his escape pod. Further inspection told him that it was one of Foaly's designs. Of course, he only knew this because a few years ago, back in his days as Commander, Foaly had come to him with the prototype design, if rather grudgingly. Naturally he refused, feeling this would put far too much power into the foolish pony's hands and the gel tablets disappeared from the storerooms. Clearly, the ridiculous centaur had slipped the rejected materials into the hands of his dear friend, Holly Short.
Sool sucked his breath in, relishing the thought of Foaly's reaction to the death of what was likely his only friend. And along with her, that annoying human Artemis Fowl, that impudent younger sister, and quite probably Commander Trouble Kelp and his team as well. Now, if he hadn't particularly wanted the deaths of Short and Fowl, Kelp would've been his first target. After all, how could the Council let that stupid Retrieval officer, barely more than boy, really, take over in a job that had once belonged to the great Ark Sool?
But back to business, Sool mused as he plucked the tablet from the escape pod. Now, with the deaths of his only opponents, he did have some time as the officers who would replace the likes of Trouble Kelp and Holly Short would likely be even more foolish. But what use was there to delay victory? None precisely. And so, the plan must go on, and Ark Sool would conquer Haven, no matter what that obnoxious centaur had to say about it.
Author's Note: Rather deluded, isn't he? I think during some point in between Chapter 1 and now, Sool crossed the very fine line between vengeful and crazy…I told you these characters write themselves. And actually, Sool is particularly adamant; that last part just flowed like spring water.
The romance in this chapter came easier than normal but looking back, I wonder if they're out of character. Ah, those romance parts are still the hardest for me to write- it's far too sugary sweet for my style (I've always detested the typical Austen or Bronte happy endings). But that will be remedied in the end...muahahaha...
Anyways, I've hit the miraculously high 150 reviews watermark! Help me make it to 200 and I will be extremely, extremely grateful! And I promise I'll update faster...;-)
Lily