Trouble groaned and muttered, "Where in all this insanity is Root!"
The Ambassador roared, "Where is that Captain who let those hooligans take my son away?"
"I-I'll have someone fetch her right now, sir." Trouble knew he was lying through his teeth. "As a matter of fact I'll go look for her myself, right now." As he left he said to a nearby Corporal, "Get that man something to drink. Something strong." He couldn't stand it anymore.
"Yes, Troubs."
"That's Commander Kelp, Corporal," he muttered to his brother.
Something big was going on and he wasn't going to stay at a desk underground. He was going to go talk to that centaur.

"Holly? Where are you going?"
"Look, Foaly, we've got no idea where to even start looking for those creeps. I think I can cover more ground this way. Besides, they were poking around near the terminal."
"Then why didn't you just mesmerize them and send them home?"
"It was no good, they were wearing reflective lenses. Besides you know they'd come back. Listen, I think we've got a lead. I'll check back in, in a while." She turned back to where Artemis and Butler were waiting by their car. "Get in," she growled. Nudging the other two into the car, Holly climbed into the backseat.
"You don't have a lead. Otherwise you wouldn't be here. Let's go over the facts, shall we?" He didn't wait for a response. "Your Commander is gone missing, presumed captured, and so things in the Lower Elements are hectic; if I remember, regulations state you shouldn't go into the field without backup, presumably and likely, you have none. Have I got things covered?" He looked at her from the passenger seat.
"Not quite, Mud Boy."
"Ah, yes. You mentioned a second hostage, which I know nothing about. So enlighten me."
"The son of the Atlantean Ambassador is missing. He's no more then 10 years old. I saw the kidnapping myself."
"If you saw the kidnapping why didn't you stop it, Captain?"
"Factors beyond my control. I shouldn't have been put in charge of watching him in the first place. I'm not a babysitter, I'm a military officer." Holly took a few deep breaths. "All right, the perpetrators could only have traveled at night, but they've been above ground since last night. They need to stay near water but well out of the sun. Where are they?"
Artemis smiled. "Get us on the main road, Butler. I think I know where they are."

"Foaly? Foaly? You here?"
"No, I'm out having a drink," came the sarcastic reply.
"Then open the door!"
"Ask politely."
"Foaly! Open the door right now or I'll talk to the Council about cutting your budget!" Nobody could fire Foaly, and he knew it, but budget cuts were always a nice threat option.
Foaly pressed the button and opened the door. "So what do you want, Commander?" his voice was now sulky, he hated any talk of budget cuts.
"Weapons. Give me lots of weapons and a blackout suit. Big guns. Wings, too."
"What?"
"I can't take it anymore! I'm as wrong for an office job as Holly is for watching kids! I'm getting out of here, bringing back Root, and chaining him to his desk."
Foaly snickered.
"I'm serious, donkey." He began pulling things off shelves, mainly weapons.
"Alright, don't get your ears in a knot. Look, what are you going to do about the Police Plaza? They only just realized Holly's missing. You won't go unnoticed so long."
Trouble chewed nervously on his lip.
Foaly smirked. "Didn't think of that, did you? I've got just the thing." Foaly took Trouble's finger and slipped it in a long, metal device. A needle pricked Trouble finger, drawing a slight blood sample. Foaly punched some buttons as he stood back and pointed the metal device at Trouble.
Trouble soon found himself standing next to himself. "What did you do?"
"I'm sure you'll be pleased to know you were just the test dummy for my new inventions. This is a prototype. Using your blood and a picture of your face I made an exact copy of you."
"Test dummy!"
Foaly chuckled.
"Test dummy! What if something went wrong?"
"That's why this was tested in the lab, not the field. Also why it was tested on you and not on a real officer."
Captain Kelp took some steadying breaths while wishing he could strangle Foaly. "So what can this thing do, horse?"
Foaly recognized the expression on the Captain's face: trying to remain calm while wishing to ring the neck of the most annoying creature under the earth. "You get more and more like Julius by the minute. The copy can speak limitedly, and move, but it can't pick up things, it's not solid."
"And how can it do this?"
"It's remote controlled. By me."
"And how are you going to know what to make it do?"
"Because you'll place a camera and microphone in the office."
"What if they leave the office?"
"Look, it isn't your permanent replacement. This is just to buy you time. It'll wear off in seven hours and disappear. Poof. Gone."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"Word from Holly. We don't know where she's going."
"I don't give a stink worm's backside about that! Horse, something is seriously wrong here. Nobody can lay hands on Root. He's one of the best Commanders in LEP history. This is serious. I'm going up there and bringing back Root and that kid. No buts, Foaly. That's it. End of story."

Root was just waking up. His head was aching and he felt dizzy. The last thing he could really remember was waking up, leaving the house.that was it. That's when that goblin and elf came out of nowhere, pretty much. But how could that happen? He was a seasoned officer, he was recon's best and brightest. Nobody should have been able to succeed in sneaking up on him. Root tried to get a handle on his surroundings. He couldn't move at all. Eye movement and breathing were all he could muster. Darvit! He thought, there must have been some sort of paralyzer in that tranquilizer or whatever they shot at me. Then he saw it. The Ambassador's son was lying nearby, but was he breathing?