-----
Kitty smiled as she gave Agent Bryan Scheele her hand and let him lead her to the entrance of Copeland's. It was a slightly upscale restaurant but they'd decided to act like they were entering one of DC's swankiest places.
"So how did the Stork reply to Fowl's mutilation of his office?" Bryan asked as they waited to be seated.
"Not well. First he was shocked that I only had a couple of minor scrapes and burns--"
"The Stork has a heart! Shock shock."
"--and then he just got really ticked. He isn't that bad you know.
Her date laughted. "I think he has a soft spot for you."
Kitty looked up, confused, from peeling the polish off her pinky.
"There're a lot of rumors circulating about you."
"Like--like what?"
"Crazy ones. Usually to get into the FBI you go through the Academy and then some old school agent takes you under their wing. Most people have known eachother since their first year at the Academy. But you--you just popped up. And with the Stork too."
"Oh...you know I'm not really ready to talk about my past." Kitty replied awkwardly.
Bryan flushed, and nodded as a waitress led them toward a cozy booth by a window.
***
Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Butler climbed out of the Palermo chute trying not to look like Holly'd steered like a madwoman. Even so, trying not to look conspicuous was even harder. Most Sicilians were dressed in the latest from Itlian Designers. Butler, however, was clothed in a rather bulky leather jacket, crammed full of equipment. To add to it he seemed to be talking to himself, or rather the invisible fairy squad behind him.
"This is humiliating." He muttered.
"What about me? I have to work with the very person who managed to defeat my squad two years ago," Trouble Kelp snapped.
They headed in silence toward the yacht Butler had rented with some of the year's "earnings".
Once they were speeding toward the coordinates Foaly had given the squad unshielded. Butler watched them breathe in the fine salt mist.
And then one of them jumped in.
***
Kitty was just beginning on her Fettucini Alfredo when her beeper went off. She noticed Scheele's also seemed to be going off. A message flashed across the small screen:
***
Butler watched enviously at the steering wheel while Kelp's squad each held on to the dorsal fin of a dolphin and lept amongst the waves. He nearly forgot that they were about to attempt a rescue mission.
Upon reaching the island the fairies somehow managed to be dry as soon as they stepped onto the rock beach.
"Now for the fun part, Kelp said, pulling out a map. The search began.
***
Artemis hid in a cave he'd found inside one of the beachside cliffs, munching on a piece of caviar. If things went right Butler would find him within the next twelve hours. He pulled out his Palmpilot and tapped a few buttons. No sense in wasting away half the day.
His inbox boldly proclaimed, "You have 4 new messages."
Opening up the one from Butler, Artemis nearly dropped the small handheld.
From:Butler@FowlManor.com
To:MasterArty@FowlManor.com
Subject:Alert
Master Artemis;
You may not be expecting this, but the American FBI knows where you are; as do we. Foaly filled me in. As is, there are currently two groups heading to the villa of Miss April Reichards (Reesh-ards). Perhaps the Russian mafiya too, once they find they fake Stone you gave them. I told the fairies the real one is in our Itlian villa, and Ialso arranged for them to meet a rather unpleasant surprise there. Lastly, Captain Short informed me that she and Root borrowed money from Mulch Diggums to pay for the fake stone. He'll probably be heading there once he thinks sufficient time has passed so that someone has killed you.
Take Care,
Butler
Now, Artemis thought, things get interesting. He needed to contemplate what to do, but he didn't worry. The cave was fairly comfortable and 12 hours was plenty.
***
Kitty hated riding in hypersonic jets. She hated the comcentary jump into space and she hated even more the motion sickness that shortly followed.
Yet she strapped on her helmet and parachute. She walked quickly toward the plane, trying to ignore Scheele, who was grinning excitedly. He loved these sorts of things. Rollercoasters, magnet trains, monorails, you name it. But he wouldn't take ignoring, being Scheele. "Hey Kit, isn't this great?"
She scowled.
Scheele shook his head, making that cute shaggy blonde hair of his flop a little. I love it when he does that!, Kitty thought.
Minutes later she squirmed while Scheele made a point of shouting "Whee!" since their commanders weren't present.
Finally Kitty felt the plane slow down and her stomach begin to complain about the sudden change.
As soon as she was safely on at the airport to be transferred to a stealth helicopter, Kitty barfed into a nearby trash can, hoping it didn't disgust the poor fellow who wanted to spit their gum out in that can.
Now was the slightly less nauseating part. She was to be dropped by parachute onto the island. Despite the fact that she knew all calculations were very precise, Kitty worried she'd accidently be dropped into the ocean. Human technology was so primitive compared to fairy technology.
The moment Kitty was safely on land Kitty pulled out her map and trekked over to where Scheele was standing, a couple yards away.
"Where should we start?" Kitty asked.
Scheele poked his finger at a collection of cliffs a bit south of where they were standing. "Let's go."