AN: Hi, we're back!
ASN: *Dryly* And they all dance with joy.
AN: Party pooper.
Chapter 27 Now What?
Holly turned back to the others and holstered her laser, fairly seething. "How dare she imply we should let her off?!"
"Um, Captain," Root said, "That was a little drastic, don't you think?" Holly studied her commander.
"Were you going to forgive her?"
"No, but I thought we could trace the signal back to where she was going."
Holly turned to Foaly and Artemis. "Tell me, resident geniuses, could we have traced the signal?"
Artemis and Foaly glanced at each other, both coming to the same conclusion. "Probably not."
"Okay then." she said, turning back to Root. "Satisfied, Commander?"
"Yep." Root grinned, as he replaced his laser onto his hip. "Now. Let's deal with the Mud Maid."
Simone smiled. "That's me, correct?"
"That's you." Holly replied. "You seem entirely too comfortable there. Why aren't you trussed up in some corner?"
"Simple." Simone answered, leaning back in the chair. It was built for centaurs, but Simone did look very much at home. "In order to keep Defea from losing her nerve and just flat out killing me, I teamed up with her and assisted a little."
Four pairs of eyes stared at her. "What?" Holly whispered. "You helped her?"
Simone shrugged. "Why not?"
Holly clenched the butt of her laser and started toward the Mud Maid. "You helped her escape. You helped her set those traps and almost kill us. I-"
Artemis laid a hand on the livid elf's shoulder. She shrugged it off and glared at him. "What?"
"If I'm not allowed to harm her, neither are you." he said calmly. Holly took a deep breath, visibly restraining her temper.
"Simone." Root took over the interrogation. "You're telling us you assisted a kidnapper in escaping. That's makes you an accessory. As the daughter of an Interpol inspector, you must know that's a criminal offense."
"I was trying to save myself!" Simone answered hotly. "I had to help her to make her think I wasn't a danger."
"So what exactly did you do?" Foaly asked ominously.
"I just sat here and watched. I controlled the light/noise balls." Simone declared. When she saw the glares leveled at her, she squirmed. "And I helped Defea rig the speakers through the house, and rewired her comm system so she could speak remotely. That's it!" The girl gazed at the faces surrounding her. The commander was bright red and looked like he was ready to explode. The other centaur looked curious but unbelieving. The female elf looked positively hostile, and Artemis was staring at her, arms crossed and eyebrow raised.
Simone glared back at the teen. "You don't believe me?" she challenged him. Artemis looked at her with the detachment of one who doesn't really care.
"Of course not." he said. She was about to say something nasty when Foaly spoke up.
"And exactly which of the traps did you design? Defea may be clever, but her creativity is limited to her decorating scheme."
Simone's gaze flipped back to the centaur, and she hesitated one fatal moment.
"So you did do just a little bit more than rewiring." Holly said maliciously.
The girl looked down, then snapped her head back up.
"Defea already had the floor in the study rigged. She said she installed it for her uncle."
"So paranoia is a species trait." Holly muttered.
Simone continued. "She put together the EMP device. Hers was much smaller and more compact than mine would have been. And the sunlight thing…whatever it was…was installed years ago, when she first got the house. The other things were my ideas."
"All of them?" Root asked incredulously, eyeing the slim teenage girl.
She grinned proudly. "Yes, all the others."
Root exploded. "We risked our lives to save a kidnapped girl who was trying to kill us!"
"I wasn't trying to hurt anyone." Simone protested. "All the traps were designed to give you a good scare, or to disable your equipment. I knew nothing about the sunlight thing!"
"But you were the one who thought up the laser?" Root growled. Simone nodded. "And how was that not going to kill anyone?"
"It was aimed to go right over a fairy's head." Simone replied smugly. "You would have had to work very hard to get hit."
"Aimed over a fairy's head." Foaly repeated. "Right at Artemis's chest."
Simone couldn't help but blanch slightly. "I didn't know he was coming!" she retorted. "It would have been an accident! And he didn't get hit."
"But someone still could have gotten killed!" Foaly yelled, visibly angry.
Simone gathered her courage. She wasn't going to be beaten by a centaur. Any centaur. "Compared to what Artemis here did to the fairies when he first met you, I don't see where what I did was so dangerous."
Artemis stepped forward suddenly. His face was its usual calm façade, but fury shone in his blue eyes. "In all my activities, I have never gotten anyone kill-"
And he stopped.
The anger in his eyes faded, to be replaced by a deep sorrow. Against his will, the teen glanced away for a second. Simone saw the movement and realized why he had quieted.
"Oh-ho." she snorted and crossed her arms. "Looks like dear 'innocent' Artemis has no right to be lecturing me after all." Artemis looked up, angry again, but Holly interrupted before he could say anything.
The elf walked right up to where Simone was sitting and slapped the Mud Maid as hard as she could.
"You remind me so much of Artemis Fowl when we first met." the elf accused. Everyone stared at Holly in shock. Simone snapped out of it first.
"How dare you! I am nothing like him."
"No," Holly snarled, "You're not. Artemis changed. He may have made mistakes in his life but at least he knows enough to be sorry! You, Simone, are not sorry. And until you realize how stupid you just acted, you are not going to be sorry. You knowingly put people into danger, which is something Artemis and the Butlers would never, ever, do." Holly glared at the girl for a silent moment, then spoke again with venom. "It is because of people like you that the fairies had to flee underground."
"How dare y-" Simone started to snap, but Root interrupted.
"Shut up." he said ominously. Simone actually fell silent. She folded her hands and looked down. Nobody spoke.
After a long minute, Root sighed. "Let's lock down this place and get back to Haven." he said tiredly. "I don't want to be contaminated by the Mud Men anymore than I have to."
Simone looked up. "And what are you going to do with me?" she asked. "After all, I know about you and this place."
Root grinned viciously. "Not for long."
Simone looked up in alarm. "You wouldn't dare..."
"Dare what?" Holly asked with a grin as she and Root escorted her through the wreckage of Defea's house. Foaly picked up the pieces of fried technology as he followed. Artemis merely followed, his blank expression revealing none of his inner thoughts.
"You can't kill me!" Simone protested. "I'm the person who was kidnapped!"
"Who said anything about dying?" Root asked. "We're simply going to remove your memories of the past few days."
Simone was shocked. To her, that seemed to be a fate worse than death. To have someone invade her mind... "You can't do that." she whispered.
"Actually, we can." Foaly began to lecture as he opened the front entrance door. "It's really quite a simple technique-"
"No, you can't do this!" Simone exclaimed, starting to panic noticeably. "It's my mind! What right do you have to poke around in it?!"
"You are a danger to the People. You must be neutralized." Holly explained sensibly as they entered the shuttle.
"I promise I won't tell."
"What makes you think we can trust you?" Root asked simply.
Simone cast her eyes around, trying to find anything that would help her. Her eyes fell on Artemis.
"And does he get to keep his memories? After all, you mindwiped him once. Isn't he a danger too?" she spat.
***************
AN: Ohh… and we leave you on a very tense note. Mah wah ha!!
ASN: Halloween always goes to her head.
AN: We started decorating today. I love Halloween. Candy is my friend. Its calories I ignore…
ASN: NO!!!! Do NOT start with the "So and so is my friend" thing. Tell them who won the title contest.
AN: Oh yeah. Our title is: Drumroll, please.
ASN: That's not it. Anyway, dadadadadadadaddadadadadadada…
AN: Oh, brother. Now, we decided on:
Artemis Fowl and the Hostage Situations
ASN: Now, the title we chose was not one all of you sent in, but it was heavily inspired by the suggestion "Hostile Situations."
AN: The only problem is, we can't figure out who suggested it. It was an anonymous entry, signed title suggestions dwmc.
ASN: Please, whoever sent this in, notify Lessa by email. Tell her your name, and we'll dedicate one of the upcoming chapters to you.
AN: Thanks to everyone for your ideas.
ASN: Oh yes, our second fav was "Artemis Fowl and the Trouble with Kelp", submitted by Phire Phoenix Chan. Sorry, that one was just too funny to ignore.
AN: And seriously people, all the ideas were great. I'm sorry everyone couldn't win, but that would end up being one doozy of a title!
ASN: So, thanks, thanks, thanks. We love you all. And here's the preview.
"Huh? Interpol? The fairies rescued this Grub person from Kegel's lab? In Interpol?" Simone gasped.
Artemis nodded placidly. "Yes. With Juliet and a dwarf named Mulch, they broke into Interpol's main headquarters."
The girl's eyes widened. "And how did they get into Interpol without getting caught? The security is foolproof!"
Artemis patented vampire smile appeared. "They used the blueprints."
AN: And how did Arty get the blueprints?
ASN: Wait and find out. Miss Lessa should post soon.
AN: That's my line!!