A/N: Hey everybody! As I said in the review I left, here I am again. Just to warn you all, I really don't know when I'm gonna get time to write and update, 'cos I'm getting incredibly huge amounts of homework at the minute, and it's all very stressy, so I will update whenever I can. I will try, of course, but I can't promise that the new chapters are going to be very regular.
Just to let you know that this is my favourite part of the story coming up now, so I hope you enjoy it!
TO MY REVIEWERS: (and the part the spell-check hates…) Thanks to Just a little critic, Kelti, Eleida, EMeraldQUeen, sindaaraniel (love your name by the way…), Ivycreeper and Red Moon Kree. Thank you all! I looooooooooove you! Also, would people please desist from asking me questions about what's gonna happen, and stuff about Basil/Holly/the Eye. All will be explained in due course. Just be patient. I am throwing in clues, you know… in two/three chapters times you will have the answer to these questions. Not exactly the plot questions, but still… so stop badgering me! you will find out soon enough *looks mysterious*.
ANOTHER, MORE IMPORTANT A/N: For those of you who aren't daughters of furniture makers (well, designer really, but anyway…) veneered MDF is pulped wood with a sort of skin. You cut pretty wood up into really thin strips, then glue it on the MDF to make it look nice –MDF on its own isn't that pretty. MDF isn't that strong – it's perfectly strong enough for furniture, but if you were, for instance, shooting at it, it wouldn't last. I shall say no more. Now go read! ------------
*****
Root stood up, his legs cramped from squatting down too long. Damn that centaur and his over-long explanations… "Right," he said matter-of-factly. "Let's take stock, then we can get on with the mission in hand."
It was LEP procedure to do this in situations like that. It was important that you knew what you had to fight with. Many a battle had been lost in times gone by because the parties had failed to look at the extent and quality of their resources. LEP officers were trained to do this automatically – they kept tabs on their energy and magic levels at all times without even having to think about it.
"First: magic. I completed the ritual only a month ago, so I'm running red hot. Obviously, Foaly has no magic. What about you, Captain?"
Holly made a face. "The last time I did it was in the Arctic, sir. Since then I've had to use…" She glanced at the scar on her right index finger. "…quite a lot… I'd say I'm about half-full."
Root nodded. He'd expected as much. "Ok, next: energy levels. It's been thirteen hours since I last slept, so I'm probably good for another few at least. Foaly?"
The centaur screwed up his face, thinking about it. Sure, he could hack into the most complex security networks in, or under the world in a matter of seconds, but unlike the two elves, he hadn't been trained at this kind of thing. They didn't teach you how to predict exactly how long it would be before you collapsed from exhaustion at techie-school. Tapping a few keys every now and then wasn't exactly classified as strenuous exercise. He gnawed at the inside of his cheek for a moment, earning himself an exasperated sigh from Holly.
"Well… I reckon I could stay alert for another four/five hours… but all this action? I don't know… an hour, maybe two."
Root forced his mouth into a courteous smile. "Thank you Foaly" he said from between gritted teeth. He turned to Holly. "And you, Short?"
She bit her lip. "I'm not doing that great there either." she confessed. "I've been awake for about twelve and a half hours, and I'm probably gonna be 'feeling the fatigue' some time soon. Two/three hours maybe. Adrenaline should keep me going for a while after that, but I don't know how long."
Root exhaled slowly. Why did it always seem like he was the one presented with the worst odds? What had he done to deserve it?
He heaved a big sigh. "Right then. Personnel count of three." He chuckled mirthlessly. "Could be worse. Just about. We have one full fairy, one half full, and one completely empty. We've got about two or three hours before someone's concentration starts to slip, and we haven't got much firepower – three lasers, with, as far as we're concerned, no limitations in the energy department. Again, could be worse. None of us are what you would call 'suitably dressed', especially not the captain here," Holly coloured slightly. "but there you go."
He paused to ensure that everyone remembered. It was imperative that they all knew what each other were capable of. When he'd judged that they'd had enough time, he took a breath to continue.
"Right then… plan. We're going to split up into three teams, one in each, obviously. We will then proceed to sweep the manor – radiating from the ballroom – and disable, disarm and disconnect any goblins from their colleagues. Now, I don't want any consciences getting in the way on this one." Holly stared at her feet, knowing, out of Foaly and herself, whom this was aimed at. "Sneak up on 'em, and shoot 'em in the back if that's what it takes to get rid of them. We don't have the time, the resources or the personnel for heroics. Do I make myself clear?"
They nodded. Didn't he always?
"Good." Root grunted, reaching his hand to his ear to activate his communications device. Seeing the meaningful look on his face as he did so, Holly and Foaly quickly did the same. "I want constant contact to be maintained, understood? At no point do you turn these off. If you want a bit of quiet time, tough. You're going to have me yelling in your ear all the way through this whether you like it or not. We have to work as a team if we're to have so much as a chance of survival. Got that?" They nodded meekly. "Excellent. Now then… Foaly, you go south-east, Holly, west, and I'll go north-east." They turned to go. "Oh, and, um…" Root paused, searching for the right thing to say. "Just be careful. Both of you." He forced a smile. "Good luck. You'll need it."
Holly grinned slightly. Was this… care coming from the commander? She turned to leave, calling over her shoulder as she went: "Look after yourselves boys." And before she could be dragged back to receive a reprimanding lecture from the commander for her cheek, she had disappeared into the manor.
ELSEWHERE…
The Eye cursed silently to himself as the reports flooded back to him. Stupid goblins! Couldn't they do anything on their own? Subtly, so that he would not appear to those in the room to be talking to himself, he hissed angry orders into the throat-mike concealed by his shirt collar. He was going to have to leave to sort this out. Those goblins were going to wish they had never been born when this was over… If there was one thing he hated, which there wasn't, there were many, but if there was just one, it was a minion that couldn't follow orders. One would have thought that when one had spent so much time and care over putting the idiots under mind-spells, they would at least have been able to do a simple job. The All-Seeing-Eye sighed melodramatically. Life as a hugely successful criminal was just so hard…
Much as it would have been fun to sweep dramatically from the room with a look of thunder on his face, the Eye knew that if there was ever a time for sneaking round one's own home, this was it. Casually he strolled to the doors, innocent look gracing his handsome features, and slipped through them when he judged no one to be paying particular attention. Many of the officers seemed to be fighting a lost battle with the alcohol in their systems. The Eye had been enjoying watching one pair – a cocky-looking sprite with one of his wings heavily bandaged, and a blonde corporal – getting rather more friendly than one would have thought appropriate in a working environment.
The second he was through the opening, however, the smile vanished from his lips, to be replaced by a furious scowl.
"This had better be good." he snarled into his microphone, striding aggressively towards the control room. "Now I want you to tell me what happened once again, but slowly this time, and without the babbled excuses that prevented the message from being deciphered previously. Do you think you can manage that?"
The goblins on the other end cringed at his acidic sarcasm. They nearly tripped over their tongues with their babbled affirmatives. He couldn't help but role his eyes. Goblins truly were the most mentally challenged creatures in all existence. Even stink worms had a higher IQ than them. It wasn't exactly a hard thing to achieve…
There was a respectful, albeit terrified silence from the goblins. The Eye ground his teeth. "Well?" he snapped, livid at their stupidity. "When someone asks you a question, you answer it!"
There was the sound of someone swallowing their own tongue in fear. A brief argument along the lines of "Tell him then!" "No, you, you're the one he was asking" and "Why me? It's your turn…" followed.
The All-Seeing-Eye lost his cool. "YOU IDIOTS!" he screamed. "JUST GET ON WITH IT!"
"Right… three of the LEP officers came out into the southern antechamber, heard Bozor's squad talking, sneaked up on 'em, and busted the whole lot. Three lasers and three of those ear-piece things have gone walk-about, and we reckon they probably took 'em. The three then managed to take out the other two squads at the other two doors. Someone from Krraben's group managed to get a description."
The Eye sighed patiently. "And that description was…"
"Oh… right… he said there was one centaur in a dinner jacket, one fat, red-faced elf in a dinner jacket, and one little girl elf in a pretty purple dress, with orangy/brown hair, and a flower on her head… it was a -"
"Little girl elf?" the Eye interrupted, gritting his teeth to keep his temper from exploding again. It was so typical of male goblins to focus only on the female in the group, then not even give tell him clearly if she was an adult or not… "Do you mean a child?"
"Er…" The goblin paused, and there was a murmur in the background as he struggled to get his facts straight.
"She wasn't a child… definitely a woman, if you know what I mean…" This was a new, much more confident, and in this instance, bawdy voice. The Eye's features formed into a disdainful expression. He did not appreciate that kind of humour at times like this.
"So she was small?"
"Yeah, short and slim… just the way I like 'em actually…"
The Eye chose to ignore this revelation. So… Foaly the technical consultant, and two elves… He had a pretty good idea who they could be…
His face hardened. "Whatever happens, they cannot go back in the ballroom to warn all their little friends. Understand?" The goblins nodded, until they realised the Eye couldn't see them, and vocalised their agreement. "Kill the centaur and the male elf. I don't care how you do it, just kill them. But the female elf… I want you to kill her too, but…" He smiled slowly, and the goblins could almost feel the decrease in temperature. "…slowly. Make her scream in pain. I would enjoy hearing that very much."
Before the goblins could reply, the Eye turned off his com-unit. He smirked in satisfaction. "You see, Holly?" he muttered to no one as pulled a nasty-looking weapon from his dinner jacket, and viciously powered it up. "I'm over you!"
*
"Progress report Captain?"
The hardware in Holly's com-unit buzzed, transmitting the gravelly tones of the commander to her eardrum.
She cast her eyes around her for a moment, checking there was no sign of any goblins about that could hear and then attack her before answering him.
"Doing ok. My head's still attached to my neck, which is good. So far, I've come across thirteen goblins. I managed to take out eight, but five got away. I don't know where they went. The goblins I've been meeting all seem to come in groups of three or four. What about you?"
The commander sounded puzzled. "It seems like you're getting a lot more of 'em than me." She couldn't help but notice a hint of jealousy in his tone. "I've only bumped into three of the little buggers, two in a pair, and one going solo. All are now snoring in the carpet…"
Foaly's sardonic chuckle came over the airwaves and Holly's lips curved into a grin as she laughed quietly. Root could be so full of himself sometimes. He tried to make it sound casual, but it really didn't work. It just made it more obvious.
Something suspiciously like a growl escaped the commander. "So Foaly?" he snapped. "How many have you managed to bag?"
The centaur could be heard clearing his throat. "Well, technically we're not bagging them sir, that entails actually stuffing them into sacks… What we're actually doing is - "
"Shut-up Foaly, and just tell me what I asked!"
Holly could almost see Root strangling the air.
"Which sir? It isn't physically possible for me to 'shut-up' as you so elegantly put it, and talk at the same instance in space and time. Which would you prefer, your holiness?"
Holly sniggered rather more loudly than she had meant to. She cringed slightly as the commander's rage washed over her.
"While you're giggling away Captain," She opened her mouth to protest that she had not been giggling, but thought better of it. "Some of us are trying to be serious here!" he roared.
"Sorry sir." she mumbled, before biting her lips together to prevent the gales of laughter escaping.
The commander grumbled slightly, his acceptation of her apology. "Foaly?" he said coldly. "I'm waiting."
Foaly gave a half chuckle. "Right you are, Commander. Oh, by the way Holly, glad to see my jokes are still doing it for you…" It sounded as if Root was on the brink of exploding. Foaly quickly got on with it. "Er… well, I met four, and got 'em all, no problems there. They were in one pair, and two solos. Maybe you're just lucky, Holly…"
She half-chuckled, half sighed softly. "Probably." she agreed bitterly. "Knowing my particular brand of 'luck'…"
Root cleared his throat. "If you two are finished reminiscing on the cards fate have dealt you, maybe we could - " He was cut off by the sound of crossfire.
"Foaly?" he breathed, not daring to make too much sound.
"Not me, Commander."
"Holly!" he hissed, worried about the lack of communication. "Holly! What's your status?"
"A little busy at the moment, sir…" she said, her voice strained. They heard her breathing get heavier and heavier, as the noise of the shots increased.
"D'Arvit!" she swore, desperation and fear creeping into her tone. "There are too many of them! They just keep coming and coming…"
Root sucked in a breath. "Ok Holly, don't panic. Where are you?"
They heard her gasp in pain as something, or someone hit her. "Near the swimming pool I think - take the second right, and follow the smell of chlorine."
He raised his weapon. "Alright, we're coming. Find some cover until we get there. You can't hope to take on that many on your own. Just hang on for a few minutes Holly, we'll be there soon."
"Thanks." Holly sounded relieved inspite of herself.
She was far from happy, however, with the recent turn of events. This would provide the council with a perfect excuse for her permanent suspension from recon – first, seen in a dress, then being at a disadvantage because of that, and now this… unable to carry out her duty. It just wasn't fair.
There were now in excess of a dozen goblins surrounding her. Holly looked around, trying to quell the panic and fear bubbling up inside her chest. There was no cover anywhere in sight. Luckily, the goblins seemed to have forgotten what you did next when you had surrounded your prey and you had guns, so they weren't shooting at her. Yet. Holly didn't like they way they were looking at her… it was almost as though she were a wild animal caught in a trap that they were planning to torture. She felt strangely hunted. It wasn't a great feeling.
Captain Short wasn't too keen on starting to use her weapon in case it reminded her captors of their own. Her eyes spun desperately around the room, searching for a spot she could have missed… There! The door to the pool area… there was bound to be somewhere she go in there…
Bringing her gun up, she blasted a hole in the ranks, and before they could close the gap, she sprinted through, ploughing straight into the door, expecting it to yield before her. It didn't. It was locked. Holly whirled, knocking out the goblins closest to her with hastily aimed shots. Where the hell were Root and Foaly? She spun round again, backed up a bit, and slammed her foot into the lock. It popped open. Terrible security. But then again, it was only a swimming pool…
She slammed the door behind her, pressing her back against it to keep it closed. Panting, she surveyed the room. It was very big. In the centre, a large pool glittered slightly under the electric light, as the water within it rippled gently. The remainder of the room was tiled, and the odd potted palm was dotted around for effect. There was no cover.
Holly swore. The goblins had finally got their act together, and were shooting at the door. It was made of veneered MDF. It wouldn't last a minute. The shocks from the impact of the blasts were transferred straight from the door into her back. She had about ten seconds before the charges sank directly into her flesh.
She thought fast. There was a door on the opposite side of the room… she estimated it to be a fifty metre dash away, round the perimeter of the pool. She would never make it. But what other choice was there? Surely she had to try. She would be dead in a matter of seconds if she didn't.
Holly took a deep breath. It was now or never… Bracing herself against the wood, she pushed off as hard as she could, sprinting for all she was worth along the white tiles.
*
Root and Foaly met in the spot the three had parted from. Together, they followed the directions Holly had given them, passing the unconscious goblins as they went. Neither spoke – they were both too worried about the captain.
As they came to the turning, they heard Holly swearing over the headsets. She didn't sound at all confident in her ability to stay alive. There was the sound of more shots, and assorted shouting that echoed strangely.
Centaur and elf looked at each other for a moment, then ran hell-for-leather in the direction they knew she had taken. Suddenly, they heard Holly give a small shriek of surprise, followed by a loud splash.
They skidded to a halt. "Holly!" exclaimed Foaly. "Holly! Are you ok?" Nothing but static. "D'Arvit, Holly, answer me!" he yelled in desperation.
Root shook his head. "The line's dead. She can't hear or answer you. We've lost her." He gritted his teeth in determination. "For now. Don't worry pony-boy, she won't be having a break from us for very long. We'll get her back."
Foaly nodded. He bloody well hoped so.
*****
Ok, ok, I know cliffies are evil, but I can't help it! It's just too tempting! It also helps ensure you keep coming back for more… muahahahahaha!!!!!
So. *big sigh* Another chapter done. ANNNNNND I've already started chapter 10! Oh yes! I have
written 700 words already! Ok, really can't think of anything intelligent to write, so I shall conclude
with my usually pathetic plea for REVIEWS!!! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW 'COS I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER!!!
And ever, and ever, and ever… right then, so until next time my friends…
POWER TO THE MUSHROOMS AND THE GREEN AND YELLOW PAINT! and may they rule the Earth as they rightly should.
Luv slime xxxx (aka the joint empress of the mushrooms and the green and yellow paint) ^_~ bye!