The Exorcism


V: Firestorm


The meeting room was simple, unlike the lavish conference hall they had back in Haven, for this was just a field base. And a field base at temperatures less than negative 40 degrees Celsius and wind speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour had to emphasize stability over elegance. Still, there were vestiges of ornamentation, even here at the South Pole. A sack of acorns was left in a corner of the room. As if anyone could do the Ritual here.

Chairman Cahartez was seated comfortably in his chair, wearing that pointy hat of his. Somehow, Root took offence at it. He was understandably irritable, and he suspected that under that annoyingly pointed hat was an exquisitely empty vacuum, residing just where Cahartez's brain ought to be. Still, he was a political ally, and politics often mattered where intelligence did not. Right now Cahartez was rising to speak.

"Commander Root and his LEP team have presented us with a scenario of - " here he held back a chuckle, to Root's visible annoyance - "of human invasion. It is true that they were brought here specifically to broach that threat, particularly since they were the main players involved with the most recent human of significance, Artemis Fowl, who was successfully neutralized as a result of their heroic actions. However, it appears that the situation involving human detection and invasion has already been planned for. Councillor Vinyaya?"

As Vinyaya rose, so did hope in Root's heart. He had known her to be a thinking elf, not someone purely bent on destroying the Mud People as he had known others to be. "We have been planning a spell that will quickly end our period of expedition here. We had realized that coexisting aboveground with humans for a significant period of time would inherently bring risk of detection, but we have apparently overestimated the efficacy of our shields. But now, there is a short-term solution that will have our task finished within 72 hours. Watch."

She called up a visual of Earth. At least, it was a spinning ball of blue and brown, with continents vaguely resembling Earth's. But the continents looked – extended. As if the oceans were much smaller and the continents stretched out longer. She sensed their ambiguity. "This is not a straightforward land-sea representation of Earth," she said. "It shows the tectonic structure of Earth. The brown is thicker continental crust and the blue is thinner oceanic crust. The red lines that you see running through the map are boundaries between tectonic plates, and the green push-pin that you see in the southern extremity is the location of our camp: at the South Pole.

"Notice the tectonic structure of Antarctica. It is just a single plate. However, there is still an outlet for magma on Antarctica. It is a volcano called Mount Erebus," here she magnified the map, presenting a flat projection of the Antarctic Circle, and pointed out a glowing red triangle northwest of the green pushpin. "It is what human scientists call a hot-spot, a place where molten rock rises towards the surface of the tectonic plate. The area inherently has natural stresses and we are able to use it as a fissure point for a critical explosion."

"Wait a minute," Root got up to speak, "you want to blow up Antarctica? Gee, if you want to wave a big sign to the humans saying 'Fairies are here, come and get us!' aren't there less destructive and expensive ways to do it?"

Chairman Cahartez said, "Commander Root, sit down. We understand your concerns and we will give you time to voice them once Councillor Vinyaya has completed her explanation. Councillor Vinyaya?"

"Thank you, Chairman. Now, we are not planning to change the structure of Antarctica tectonically. We will just channel some of the potential energy inherent in the Mount Erebus structure to fissure the permafrost ice covering Antarctica's land surface. Using complementary sonic resonators, we will focus and amplify the fissuring reaction towards the location of the Booke. Then it will act as a second fissure point, forming a giant crevasse in the ice layer and allowing us to retrieve the Booke."

"Thank you, Vinyaya. Any – yes, Commander Root, you may object now."

Root was waving his hand frantically in the air at the moment, as if it was not enough for the Council to note his deeply violet complexion. He erupted from his seat to question Vinyaya. "Councillor, won't an unexplained explosion on Antarctica supplement the humans' earlier evidence concerning our activities? How will this course of action increase our chances of remaining concealed?"

"Mount Erebus does explode. We are just hastening and harnessing its explosion."

"And what of the safety of the humans in various research stations on Antarctica?"

"The fissuring reaction should be limited to the immediate vicinity of the Booke site. Nevertheless, the security of Mud Men should remain the responsibility of Mud Men. We cannot be taken to charge on the account of inferior intelligence."

Root swore. The anti-Mud Man sentiment was infecting the upper echelons of the People so quickly. It was easy for them to exaggerate and retell the danger they posed to the People, to appeal to what had now become romantic myths about Artemis Fowl – myths that invariably excluded his assistance during the Bwa'Kell uprising. The dangerous mix of aloofness, hostility and fear was not unexpected among the common people, but who would have thought it could distort the Council – the Council! "They are intelligent and they are sentient as well, regardless! Surely you cannot abandon them to death or harm by our actions!"

"Yes, we can, and we will."

"Vinyaya! Of all people, I - "

"That's enough!" Cahartez interrupted the growing firestorm of words between them. "Commander Root, please keep your propriety at all times. This is the Council, not some bar filled with drunkards or some Mud Man government."

"With all due respect, Councillor Vinyaya, there should be an alternative method to solve the crisis. A method that will result in the loss of no lives, whether People or Mud Men."

"And what exactly do you propose, Commander Root?"

"An immediate and complete evacuation. Frequent monitoring until we are sure that the humans' interest has waned sufficiently and that solar radiation is at acceptable levels. Then we move back in, using a small-footprint colonization pattern and lowering all unnecessary energy usage."

"Commander Root. Do you realize how implausible your idea is?"

"Surprise me."

"With all the necessary precautions it would take us ten years!"

"What are ten years to a fairy?"

"Ten years are ten years too long," Cahartez responded. "We decided that it was best to maximize operational output, even if that meant risking detection, to shorten the duration of our stay here."

"So that's it!" Root spluttered. "That's the real reason you guys were detected! Right, Cahartez? You were so lax about security because you couldn't wait to get your damn butts out of the freezing cold! And you had this cock-eyed idea of blowing up Antarctica so that even if the humans did detect you you could just blow them up in the name of 'maximizing operational output'! Right, Cahartez, right?"

Cahartez remained sombre, but had a touch of veiled anger in it. "You have committed several breaches of protocol and general courtesy in the past few minutes, Commander Root. Do not add enough to endanger your perfectly stellar career."

"D'Arvit, that's what it's all about, isn't it? Your harebrained scheme to - "

"COMMANDER ROOT!"

"May I interrupt you gentlemen." The zip of the canvas door to the room opened, and for a moment the sound of the blizzard outside overpowered the rancorous discussion. Foaly walked in, taking care to quickly zip the door shut behind himself. "Chairman Cahartez, as an honorary consultant to the LEP - "

"Honorary?" Cahartez's eyes narrowed on Root. "What's all this?"

"After all, he did successfully mind-wipe the human, Fowl."

"Alright, the honour is accepted. Proceed."

"I just think I should be allowed to contribute to the meeting. What are our current plans?"

Councillor Vinyaya ran through the plan again.

"Hmm... let me see if I understand your diagram correctly." Foaly pointed to the wavy red line surrounding the Antarctic plate on the map. "What does this line represent?"

"Faults surrounding the Antarctic tectonic plate."

"What kind of faults?"

"They're just... faults."

"You mean, where the two plates slide past each other?"

"Well... to a first-degree approximation," (was that a flicker of uncertainty across Vinyaya's face?) ", yes."

"Excuse me," Cahartez interrupted, "but Mr. Foaly, what does this have to do with anything?"

"Nothing," said Foaly, with an unusually innocent expression on his face.

"Nothing?"

"Yes. To a first-degree approximation," and he glanced at a grimacing Vinyaya.

"Then why are you here?"

"Oh, just to let you know that whatever you decide to do, do it fast. Within five hours, in fact. That's the estimated time of arrival of the human troops at our position."