AN: We are at chapter 16, right?

ASN: Yes, baka.  It's chapter 16. 

AN: *Sticks tongue out*  Here you go.  It's a little longer then usual; be happy!!

Chapter 16   The Secret's Blown

Holly shrugged.  "I have no idea…what's that?"  Her helmet was beeping.  Loudly.  It was a signal from Haven.  She headed over, picked her helmet back up, turned up the volume so Artemis could hear, and spoke into the microphone. 

"Yes?"

"Short, is that you?" Root's voice bellowed, aggravating her newly repaired eardrums. 

"It is, sir."

"We have a situation down here.  Where are you?"

Holly blanched and looked at Artemis.  He smirked and gave her no help whatsoever. 

            "Staying with a friend, sir." she said, giving the Mud Boy the evil eye.  "What happened?" 

            "Corporal Grub is missing in action." Foaly cut in.  "Apparently he has been kidnapped.  The feed from his helmet gave us a clear picture.  One Stephen Kegel, working for Interpol's Mr. Antoine Badeau."

            "HUH?!"

"What?" Root asked. 

Holly looked at Artemis again.  He was obviously thinking.  Then he nodded.  "The two are interconnected." he pronounced calmly.  "A hostage for a hostage.  It's the only explanation that makes sense."

Over the communication line, Holly heard a sharp intake of breath.  "Holly…" Foaly said slowly, "Tell me that's not who I think it is."

Holly went dead white.  Artemis, on the other hand, seemed very pleased.  It wasn't often he saw the elf so flustered, and after this week, it was quite enjoyable.  "Um...what do you mean, Foaly?" she asked a little nervously.

"What are you talking about, donkey?" Root cut in.  "It's just the person Holly's staying with."  He paused.  "Who are you staying with, Holly?  It sounded like a man."

"Umm…"

"Holly." Foaly said flatly.  "I'll ask you one question, and you answer it truthfully.  From there, I'll decide if Root needs to know.  All right?"

Holly knew she was going to be killed either way.  "Sure."

"He didn't remember you."

There was a long pause.  Then Holly answered.  "He does now."

"D'Arvit!" 

"Um, hello?"  Root sounded unamused.  "I'm lost, and I don't like being lost." 

"Holly, are you in trouble?" Foaly asked, ignoring the commander.  "Do we need to come get you?"

"She's perfectly fine." Artemis answered.  "This was all a misunderstanding."

"No…" Root said suddenly.  "No.  Foaly, please tell me I'm going insane." 

"Love to." the centaur said a little frantically.  "But I'm a little busy.  Holly, are you sure you're all right?"

"Yes!" she snapped.  "Look, there's something going on here that none of us understand completely.  Can we please get back to the Mud Boy later?!"

Root came on again, and even his voice seemed to be on the verge of a complete breakdown.  "Captain, you have a lot to answer for.  As do you, donkey.  You assured me he would never remember!" 

"Commander, please!" Holly said.  "This is important." 

"Now what is it, Short?!"

"This Antoine Badeau of yours, does he have a daughter named Simone?" 

A pause as Foaly began to tap keys.  Then, "Yes.  Foreign exchange student.  Why?"

"I may know who started this." she answered.  "Unfortunately, Fowl has a big part in it.  Permission to bring him down?" 

"Why?" Root demanded.  "What does he have to do with this?"

"Commander Root…"  Artemis said, smoothly plucking the helmet out of Holly's hand and ignoring her outraged protest, "All will become clear.  But it would be much easier for us if we could face one another.  A meeting in Haven is fine, or if you prefer, we can hold our conversation over video."

"Video." Root grumbled reluctantly after a moment or two.  "And if you've done anything to Captain Short, Fowl, so help me, I'll-"

"Believe me, Commander;" Artemis interrupted smoothly, "Captain Short is as cheerful as ever."  Holly scowled at him. 

            "All right." Foaly said, "I've gotten back into Fowl's computer systems.  And to believe I was lazy enough to not monitor them after the six month period.  By the way, Mud Boy, why are your security systems tighter than before?" 

"You'll discover that shortly." Artemis said, standing.  "Come with me, Captain, and I'll set up a video feed.  I'll be with you two gentlemen in a moment."  He flicked off the microphone.  "Coming?"

Holly followed him calmly, though her mind was raging.  She had been right; Root was going to kill her.  And before she achieved her goal, too…

**********

Artemis strolled into his study and started up his machines.  He was confident Foaly would do the rest.  Sure enough, the commander and the centaur appeared on the screen shortly after.  

"Captain!  Are you all right?" Root barked the moment the picture came alive.  "You don't look so good- what did you do to her, Fowl?!"

"I did nothing." Artemis said with dignity.  "Captain Short hasn't told me what happened." 

"Commander," Holly began, "It was not Fowl's fault.  I was attacked by a special kind of bomb." 

"What kind?" Foaly piped, now interested. 

"Instead of it being a gas bomb, it seemed targeted specifically for LEP officers.  It gave off a large flash of ultraviolet light and deafening white noise on all LEP frequencies.  Since, due to regulation, I had my helmet sealed and my filter on ultraviolet, I was temporarily blinded and deafened.  The attacker got away."  Holly did not look pleased to report that fact. 

"This attacker seems to be knowledgeable in fairies in general and the LEP in particular.  Who was he, and what did he want in this specific place?" Root asked, his face slowly reddening.  "And why exactly were you at Fowl Manor, Captain?"    

Holly ignored the last question.  "My attacker kidnapped a girl staying here, by the name of Simone Badeau." 

Foaly frowned.  "Antoine's daughter?" 

"Yes." Artemis interjected.  "A foreign exchange student my parents recently brought home." 

"I bet that pleased you." Foaly muttered.  "Holly, you never said who this attacker guy was." 

"That's because it wasn't a guy…" Holly said, looking a little nervous. 

"Then who was it?" Root exploded.  "Tell us, Captain!"

"…it was Defea."

Root frowned.  Foaly's jaw seemed to be somewhere around his ankles.  "Wha??" the centaur blurted.  "Defea!  My Defea?!  At that sentence, both Root and Holly raised their eyebrows.  Foaly flushed a little bit.  "I mean- uh…she couldn't have-!" 

"She did.  I saw her.  And believe me, she wasn't going to stop simply because she knew me." 

"But…" Foaly floundered. 

"Oh, shut up, donkey!  You and Defea are over; stop trying to protect her!" Root snarled.  "I just want to know what's up with her kidnapping the daughter of the Mud Man Kegel works for!" 

"It's possible," Artemis started softly, "that Defea knows Kegel." 

"And if so," Root said, rounding on him, "why would Kegel kidnap Corporal Kelp?!  Unless he knows you, of course!" he added nastily. 

"Now, Julius, don't bait the Mud Boy." Foaly commented.  "We may need him after all." 

"What for?!" Root exclaimed.  "He's nothing but a headache.  I've personally had more than enough of him, and I still want to know why you were with him, Captain!" 

Holly cringed.  "It's a really long story, Commander." she said lamely.  Artemis raised an eyebrow. 

"Oh really, Captain?  It didn't take very long for you to explain to me." he remarked. 

Root seemed to swell.  "Holly…" 

Holly glared at the Mud Boy threateningly.  "And after all I've done for you." she hissed.  "Are you trying to get me fired?!"

"Should I be?"

Holly controlled a scream of fury and turned back to the screen.  "Sir, we really do need to decide what we're going to do.  Can we please argue about this later?"

Root fumed for a moment, then subsided.  "All right, Captain.  Bring the Mud Boy, along with Butler.  I'll clear out all citizens from E1.  After they're down here, we'll decide what to do with them."

"What about Juliet?" Artemis asked blandly.  Root turned an interesting shade of purple. 

"Bring her as well.  Now get moving, Captain!" he growled.  Holly complied as Artemis turned off the screen. 

"An interesting development." he commented.  This time Holly just punched his shoulder.  She was too angry to try hitting higher. 

"You've just succeeded in getting me into some of the deepest trouble there could possibly be, and you call it an interesting development?!" she hissed. 

"Perhaps." 

The elf made an odd noise.  Before she could hurt Artemis like she so desperately wanted, the Butlers returned.  "We covered the entire manor, because we thought we saw something.  Whatever it was, it was gone before we could catch up." Juliet reported.  Butler seemed to be a little out of breath. 

"Don't worry, we found it." Holly grumbled.  "Pack up people; we're going on a trip." 

"What?" Juliet asked, a little confused.  "A trip?  Holly, are you okay?  How can we go anywhere with you when Simone's around?"

"Simone is part of this trip, Juliet." Artemis stated calmly. 

Butler understood first.  "Simone somehow knows about the fairies?" he said cautiously.  Holly and Artemis nodded.  "How?"

"She was kidnapped." Holly said, checking her weapon.  "You have a car, Mud Boy?"  Artemis just looked at her.  "Thought so."

"Kidnapped?!" Juliet echoed.  "She was kidnapped by a fairy?!" 

"Yep.  And now we get to go talk to my commander about it." Holly said, not sounding overly pleased. 

"Why should Root care?" Butler asked.  "The fairies usually don't help out the humans." 

"I'll bring you up to date on the way." Artemis said smoothly.  Holly shook her head. 

"Try again.  I'll have to mesmerize you.  Can't have Mud Men knowing how to get to Haven, you know."

"In that case, I'll bring you up to date on the way to the car." the teen amended.  Then he paused.  "Butler, Juliet, you aren't required to come."  Holly opened her mouth to argue, but he held up a hand.  "If you wish to stay here, I won't be offended."

"You aren't going anywhere without me." Juliet declared, shaking her head.  "I have to keep an eye on you, after all."

Butler frowned.  "Artemis, I may be older, but I am still your bodyguard.  You are not leaving me behind."

Artemis nodded.  Holly finished running over her mental checklist, and nodded as well.  "All right, then.  Let's go!"  

**************************

AN: All right everyone, I've been reading the reviews, and some of you say yes to previews, and some say no. 

ASN: NO!

AN: Creep.  Anyway, unless you all throw huge humongous fits, I'm not going to do them anymore.  Okay? 

ASN: Okay!! 

AN: You don't count.  Anyway, hope you enjoyed.  Oh, would you all prefer little chapters every other day or one big long chapter every week?  Tell us; we're getting sort of sick of people complaining about the length of the chapters. 

ASN: And a big long chapter every other day is not an option. 

AN: Till next time!!