ASN: A thousand apologies for my tardiness.
AN: Tests. And lots of 'em.
CHAPTER 9: THE PIXIE STRIKES BACK
California Technology Labs, "Guest Suite"
Foaly had managed to work off one of the ropes, freeing his back hooves. Shame he couldn't do anything with his back hooves. The only thing he could do with them was tap, and no one friendly would be near enough to hear Morse code. He sighed. It was taking the LEP a long time to find him. Then he frowned. All of his booby-traps probably had their undivided attention. He'd set a couple things to go wrong, so that when he returned everyone would be glad to see him, and the Council would be more likely to listen to his request for a raise. Now that he had been gone too long, things would be breaking right and left. They'd probably just hang him when he returned. If he returned.
"Wait! Depressing thoughts!" he muttered, "It's okay. I will be fine. Julius and Holly will rescue me. I must depend on Julius."
The centaur started crying. "I'll never get outta here!" he wailed. Opal stuck her head in the door.
"Having fun?" she inquired sweetly.
"Tons," replied Foaly with a straight face, all trace of tears gone.
"Afraid Commander Root and his girlfriend won't get here?" she asked.
"Oh, no, I know they'll get here." Foaly said brightly, and Opal left as quickly as she came in, stopping just long enough to re-tie his back hooves.
"I just don't know when. And I might be a potted plant when they do." Foaly muttered, tugging at his bonds.
Opal opened the door again. "Oh, I forgot. Have you made up your mind yet? JR is tired of waiting."
"It hasn't been a day yet!" Foaly protested.
"I'm sure it's a new day somewhere in the world. Besides, I'm looking forward to mindwiping you. I think the first thing I'll have you do is scrub the entire building on your hands and knees...and knees."
"No more centaur jokes. I've heard them all." Foaly groaned. Opal grinned.
"Decision time. The clock is ticking."
"Uh, I need more time." Foaly said desperately. Opal shook her head.
"No, no, centaur, no more time. Just say yes." she said seriously.
"I am being perfectly serious and honest with you, Opal. This Rand person told me that he'd go into partnership with me, cut you out completely. He can't be trusted. Don't you think the both of us should get out here and back to the Lower Elements while we still can?"
Opal turned and left, calling back over her shoulder as she went, "I'll rev up the machine while you say your prayers." She closed the door and left him in the darkness, an evil laugh hanging in the stillness.
"Really. How melodramatic. 'Say your prayers,' evil laugh, pure black, all that mumbo-jumbo. It's almost like they expect me to be scared." Which he was, of course, but you'd never get him to admit it. He leaned back against the wall and started sending up pleas to the Great Centaur Who Ruled Over the Galaxy.
California Technology Labs, Main Entrance
Root cautiously pushed aside some branches of the large hedge that covered the outside of the 10 foot barbed wire fence. He peered through the wire mesh at the well-lit, black glass building. Guards patrolled the outside, and Root could tell by his infrared lens on his helmet that there were guards stationed on the roof too. At least there weren't any infrared sensors.
"Foaly, if we ever get you out of here alive, I'll kill you." he whispered. He turned back to look at his companions. Holly and Butler were busy cutting a hole in the fence. The two elves could fly over it, and between the two of them, they could probably even carry Artemis. As if he'd agree to that. Butler was another story, however, so they were cutting a perfectly unmagical hole in the fence.
"Where's Artemis?" Root asked, whispering. Holly shrugged, and Butler didn't appear worried, so he must be around. The commander slipped past them, looking for the teen.
"Right. I'll be expecting you." came a soft voice from behind a bend in the hedge. When Root had pushed through the branches, he found Artemis there, returning his cell phone to his pocket.
"What were you doing?" Root asked, "We're almost ready to go."
"I was verifying a business arrangement." Artemis said haughtily, moving in the general direction to the others. Root moved directly into the Mud Boy's way.
"Can't your little criminal activities wait until after we save Foaly?"" he hissed.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to put off till tomorrow what you can do today?" Artemis asked with a slight grin. He pushed past Root and joined Holly and Butler at the fence.
"After I kill Foaly, he's next." Root grumbled as he reluctantly approached the group.
Root and Holly activated their wings.
"One of us will come get you when it's safe." Root said, hovering at eye level. The two humans nodded. The elves activated their shields and silently disappeared into the night.
"Good luck," Artemis whispered, too softly to be heard, even by Butler.
Holly and Root came in quickly and silently. They broke ranks about 50 yards from the building. Holly zoomed up to the roof. She could see the sentry pacing back and forth along the wall, clutching a silenced AK 47. A walkie-talkie rested on the man's hip. Holly floated right in front of the sentry's nose and reappeared.
"Nice human." she crooned, her voice loaded with mesmer, "Now keep walking, patrolling just like you were. You don't see anything strange. If anyone calls, you've seen nothing. All right?" The human nodded dumbly, eyes heavy.
"Good human. Thank you for your cooperation. Have a nice day." she said sweetly, and reshielded. Below her, she could see the Mud Man continuing his prowl, oblivious. She grinned.
"I love my work."
While she had dealt with the Mud Man on the roof, Root had mesmered the guard patrolling the parking lot and the guard at one of the side doors. The Mud Man invited him in with surprisingly little prompting, and he had also helpfully unlocked the door for him, and Root had flown inside, looking for cameras. He immediately saw one camera, slowly turning its mechanical head to pan up and down the corridor. Root snorted softly.
"Piece of junk Human machine." They would be able to sneak past the camera without using magic, always a plus. Mesmer was a relatively easy piece of magic, but you couldn't do it continuously. Anytime you could outwit the humans by their own rules, you saved some magic for emergencies. And made the Mud People feel really dumb if they ever found out.
Using his helmet lens, Root saw Holly appear at his elbow.
"Get the humans in here." he ordered over their comm system. She nodded and flew off to retrieve them. She flew over the fence and reappeared on the other side, behind the two. She grinned slightly as she sneaked up behind them. Root would not approve, but it would be worth it to see the Mud Boy jump. She reached out to tap Artemis on the shoulder, but missed when he casually turned around.
"Are we ready to go?" he inquired.
Holly covered her scowl of frustration with a small cough.
"Yes. Come on. And stay to the shadows." she ordered. At least it was some compensation to tell him what to do for a change. She turned and flew over the fence without another word. Artemis shouldered his hacker pack and followed Butler through the hole in the fence.
The two humans ran from shadow to shadow, in quick spurts, then stopping and waiting until Holly appeared and gave them the go ahead. She led them in a torturous path through the parking lot that managed to avoid every single one of the cameras attached to light posts. Artemis didn't really mind. Quick sprints were easier than flat-out running, and a lot easier than trying to jump on a moving train. After a final sprint from the shadow of a delivery van, they appeared at the side door. The guard attending it stared straight ahead, ignoring them easily. The three slipped past him and into the hall, where Root was waiting.
"There's a camera a little up the hall. I unlocked one of the offices up there, but we'll have to slip past the camera." The humans nodded. Without further ado, Artemis waited until the camera was looking further down the hall, then ran until he was directly under the camera. When the camera turned to look up the hall, the teen ran down to the unlocked door and jumped inside. Root turned to Holly.
"He did that very well." he commented, surprised, on the private comm system. Holly sighed. Nothing Artemis Fowl did surprised her anymore.
Butler stared at the camera, waiting for it to move away from his position. As it did, he slipped down the hallway silently. Holly knew ants that made more noise than the bodyguard. He paused under the camera, as Artemis had, and waited until it was pointed away, and then he slid into the room.
Root switched on his shield, motioning for Holly to do the same. She did, and they followed the same path as the humans to the unlocked office.