Artemis leaned over Foaly's shoulder, reading the list of commands that Foaly was typing in. Although he knew Artemis was well aware of what was happening, having come up with the plan the day before, Foaly couldn't help giving a commentary anyway.
'The power is now gone from the LEP, except in the Op's Booth, which no one can access now, and the data about the LEPrecon and it's movements should be starting to download into your computer now.' he gave a slight snicker as he added nastily. 'As well, I encrypted the signal with the one you came up for me, and I rerouted the calls to the computer through several countries and cities including some underground ones. By the time they even work out that out, we'll be long gone.'
Artemis' face was expressionless as always, yet Butler, from his out of the way corner, could tell that he was pleased. 'Congratulations Foaly' commented Artemis. 'You've just taken your first step to starting a criminal life.'
'Gee, Artemis, I'm speechless. You know, for a second there I could have believed that you were an ordinary Mud Boy. In theory, that is.' Foaly stretched his arms for a moment, then continued to type in the commands that would get better control of the LEP.
Artemis' mouth seemed to twitch, just for a moment, into a slightly wider shape then was normal for him. 'Why Foaly, if I didn't know better, I'd take that as a compliment.'
Butler smiled to himself as he flicked through his latest copy of Guns and Ammo. It seemed that Artemis' newfound friendship with Foaly was certainly having a startling impact on him for the better. At least, he hoped so.
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'Tell me Commander' said Holly in a deceptively calm tone. 'Did Foaly mention anything about getting revenge, because I think that this might be it!' Her voice grew in volume as she said it, until she ended up shouting.
Before he could reply, a panicked gnome threw open the door and ran into the room. 'Sir, we've lost the power! And the computers in the Op's Booth are humming, but someone changed the code on the door, and no one can get in!'
Root said several things that would have to be censored before they could be put down in writing. 'That centaur! He's the only one who could have done it! Quickly, put out a call to all squads of LEP. Tell them that this is an emergency, and not a drill' Root barked at the helpless gnome, who ran to do his bidding.
The emergency lights came on, filling the room with a dim, orange glow.
'Might I suggest something, sir?' Asked Holly.
'No, Captain, you may not. This is no time for theorizing.' Snapped Root, shoving one of his cigars in his mouth and searching desperately for a light.
'Well then Commander, I think this wall might listen too me, and if you overhear me, that's no great loss. Have you checked Foaly's rooms for any clues as to where he's going?' Holly asked the wall with feigned interest. Under her nonchalant face, two strong emotions fought. One was the urge to kill Root for his stupidity in allowing Foaly to be fired. The other was a growing concern for Foaly. If he was behind this power failure, what could he possibly have for motivation to do so? It just made no sense.
Commander Root sank into his chair, which in turn sank under his weight. 'Anything he could take, he took. It's as simple as that.'
Holly opened her mouth to ask him another question when the gnome Root had sent out opened the door a little bit. 'C-C-Commander?' He called out softly, not wanting to risk the notorious wrath of the Commander.
'Get in here now, Corporal, before I have you fired too!' Root yelled at him, his face turning its trademark hue. The unlucky gnome scurried over to the desk and stood to attention.
'Sir, all squads have been recalled to base. The few technicians we have attempted to trace the signal which disabled our main power source, but they're having some slight difficulties. The signal has been encrypted and no one can work out how to break it. As well as that, they've worked out that it's been rerouted through several different places. They say they could work it out eventually but it's unlikely that whoever's behind this will keep sending the signal for the time they need to track this.'
'WHAT???!!!' Root shouted at the same time as Holly. 'That's impossible!' Root stuttered. 'There's no one below or above ground that could do such a thing. The only two creatures living on this earth that even stand a chance of designing something like this a Mud Man, who we successfully mind wiped, and Foaly…' The implications of what he had just said struck him.
'Captain Short, I want you to go around to Foaly's quarters and see if you can find out just where that blasted centaur has gotten to. When you find him, apologise on behalf of the LEP and tell him we'll increase his budget by any amount he wants.' Holly nodded grimly and sped out of the room. If Foaly was behind this she wanted to find him before anyone else and discover just why he'd done this.
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The LEP weren't the only people suffering because of Foaly's disappearance. Mulch Diggum's, dwarf burglar extraordinaire was also suffering. Not because it was dark, dwarves are very good at seeing in the dark, they need to be for all the tunnel's they go down. But because of the power shortage, the shuttle's had been shut down. Mulch cursed beneath his breath. Although Artemis had told him in his letter slipped to him when they shook hands not to come find him until after the six months were up, Mulch couldn't resist the large amounts of money that were bound to come his way once he became partner's with the notorious heir to the Fowl empire. Frowning, he idly wondered what one earth was causing the power outrage anyway. Shrugging it off as unimportant, he began to make inquires amongst the illegal world to find a short cut to above ground.
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Captain Holly Short stopped her transportation (a rather nice nuclear powered Model Lightning) outside the apartments that until a few days ago, Foaly had called home. She stepped inside carefully. If Foaly was responsible for the power blackout, she wouldn't put it past him to have booby-trapped the places the LEP would undoubtedly search. She gave the room a cursory glance and frowned. Although she had never been to Foaly's apartment before, and didn't know how it looked in the beginning, she was fairly certain that it couldn't have looked like this. It was bare. Oh, there was a bed, designed for a centaur of course, and a refrigerator/freezer but that was it. Holly began looking around in case she had missed something. Where was the computer? She had just finished examining everything and wondering how Foaly could stand to stay her when something struck her. In all the time she'd been assigned to LEP, had Foaly ever had a day off? He was always one of the first to punch in, definitely before her at any rate, and he left after she had gone home as well.
How much time does he really spend here? She silently wondered. She was just about to leave when she heard a slight ping noise from the bed. Cautiously, she walked over and using the butt of her Neutrino she poked the slight bump in the stall-like area. Nothing happened except another ping! Curiosity gained the better of her and she leaned over to inspect whatever it was.
Holly stared at the small computer she had uncovered. Guess my first impression that there were no computers here was wrong. She thought to herself. The pinging was started to get on her nerves and although it was against protocol, she hit the key to access the email. A gasp escaped from between her teeth.
The email read;
Help, somebody please help! I have been taken kidnapped by Opal Koboi! I'm being held at…
There the email ended. But it was enough for Holly. Tucking it under her arm, she headed back to headquarters in a hurry.
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'Artemis, we have a slight problem' Artemis glanced upwards, annoyed at having been distracted from what was shaping up to be the most interesting thing he had done all day. 'Yes?' he snapped.
Butler wordlessly pointed to the camera pointed at the gate entrance. Artemis did not curse mainly because he had a great deal of self restraint and cursing was a waste of breath at any rate. However, if he did swear, he would have done so at the moment in time. Foaly looked up, momentarily distracted from the computer screen. Looking from Butler to Artemis he asked 'What's wrong?'
Artemis sighed, rubbing his temples between his first finger and his thumb. 'My parents are back from their second honeymoon earlier than anticipated.' Judging from the way Artemis had said this and the look of utmost distaste which had been present on his face for a few moments, Foaly gathered that this was not something which Artemis had been looking forward to. Being the insensitive and nosy person he was, he said this out loud.
He got an answer in the form of an icy glare and the terse 'Is Part A completed yet?' Foaly unwillingly went along with the change in conversation topic and informed Artemis 'Yes, that's completed. I also sent an email to my little hand held computer stating that I've been kidnapped by Opal Kobai' Artemis nodded in approval as Foaly continued 'and so that should keep them off our tracks until they work out I was lying.' He glanced up at the monitors that were currently showing a black BMW winding it's way up the long driveway, drawing closer every second. He jerked a thumb towards it. 'And what do you intend to do about them? Most people don't tend to approve of centaur's living on their grounds.' Artemis smoothly got up from his seat and headed for the front door.
'I do not mean to inform them that there is a rather annoying and irritating centaur on the grounds. I will, however, tell them that I have purchased a highly strung stallion and placed it in a special booth in the stables. I will also mention that it is highly temperamental and it still needs time to settle down into it's new habitat. Since my parents never go into the stables anyway, this should not prove to be a problem for us, will it?'
Foaly hated it when Artemis was right. Unfortunately, considering just who Artemis was, it happened rather often. Sighing, the centaur booted down the computer and grabbed the laptop from under the bench. Time to put the beginning of Part 2 into action.
At the front door of Fowl Mansion, Artemis began to practise his "I'm-so-glad-you're-back" smile. Unfortunately, he still wasn't very good at it. Artemis did not often have to smile.
"Arty we're home!' Artemis forced his mouth to draw apart another couple of centimetre's as he allowed himself to be drawn into the hug. "Hello mother.' he said, uncomfortable with the situation. 'How was your honeymoon? I was not expecting you back for another three days' Angeline Fowl waved a hand languidly.
'Oh, it was lovely! But I just couldn't stand to be away from my darling Arty for a minute longer!' Artemis winced inside. Fortunately his mother was distracted by calling over her shoulder 'Come on Timmy darling. I want to introduce Arty to the newest members of staff.' Artemis frowned imperceptibly. New staff?
He watched his father climb awkwardly out of the car. He's still having problems with the prostrate leg. Artemis silently noted. Although the best money could buy, it seemed that nothing was quite an equal for a real leg. He waved in greeting to his young son, who merely smiled politely back. And then the back doors of the BMW opened, and out stepped two, for lack of a common descriptive word, Butler's.
Perhaps Angeline noticed the slight confusion on Artemis' face because she explained 'Your father and I have decided that since Butler has been getting slightly on in years and Juilet has gone to the United States for that wrestling thing she's involved with, perhaps it would be best if Butler had some more help. Madame Ko very kindly agreed to let me take these two despite having only just graduated from the Academy. I assured her that an easy principle would be helpful to them.'
Artemis almost smirked there and then. Butler's spent their lives training, so that they could be bodyguard's to Fowl's. A Fowl was the hardest assignment you could get because it carried the most prestige with it. However, not wishing to offend his mother so soon after her trip, he merely nodded.
Almost as if by magic, although Artemis privately suspected the manservant had been eavesdropping using the many cameras and microphones in the area, Butler appeared in the doorway. 'Welcome back, Mrs Fowl. I trust you enjoyed your trip?' Angeline Fowl nodded 'Yes, the Gold Coast is so nice this time of year. Butler, I surmise that you know the two young Butler's that we have employed? I gathered from Madam Ko that they are related to you, although of course I'm not entirely certain how close.' Over her shoulder she called back to her husband, "Come along dear, I want to see what Arty's done while we were gone. Let's leave the young to associate amongst themselves.'
Artemis waited until his parents were out of ear shot, using the time to size up the Butler's in front of him. Similar in appearance to the Butler charged with Artemis' well being, Artemis surmised that they were close cousins. He raised an eyebrow at the two of them. 'I am Artemis Fowl the Second' he stated clearly.
The girl, shorter than her companion smiled downwards. She was taller than Artemis by at least a foot. 'I'm Andrea and this is my brother Diego. We're cousins to the Butler that's already here.' No sooner had she said that when she was swept up into a large bear hug by her aforementioned cousin along with her brother. 'So you finally got your Blue Diamond?' inquired Butler, stepping back to allow breathe to return to the two young siblings.
'yeah' said Andrea. 'Missed your record by seven years though.' Butler laughed and roughed up her hair. 'hey don't worry about it. You couldn't beat me then, and you couldn't beat me now.' Both Andrea and Diego pouted and looked around guiltily when Artemis coughed slightly.
"Before we get off topic again, am I to assume that I am to call you by your first names?' Butler rolled his eyes in the privacy of his head. Just like Artemis to get straight down to business.
Diego glanced at his bigger cousin before saying doubtfully "I guess so. You already have a Butler, and it's not as if we're going to be your bodyguards anyway.'
Artemis nodded satisfied with the answer. Turning on his heel he called out behind him, "Butler, I'm going to go check on the stallion. I may be a while. If you need me, call my mobile. I do not wish to be disturbed unless it is important.' The three Butlers watched the pale youth head for the stables.
Finally one of them said with feeling. 'Cold hearted little fink isn't he'