The Family Name: The Artic Incident

By Elbereth in April

Chapter 3: Serious Questions (and Some Snow)

Draco Malfoy found himself riding in what he was told was a goblin shuttle--and apparently not a very good one--piloted by the fairy, Holly Short. Fowl was on his other side, and Butler beside him.

"I still would have preferred the Floo network," he mumbled.

"We can't take the Floo with the fairies."

"I know, you said. Too many humans would see them and their secret would be out." Draco rolled his eyes.

Fowl half-smiled at him, then moved up to the copilot's chair. "How close is the Russian terminal to Murmansk?"

Holly glared at him. "Civilians behind the yellow line."

Artemis took a deep breath. "It's important. I have to devise a plan for the rescue."

"Don't you find it ironic that a kidnapper needs help with a kidnapping?"

"Holly, I was a criminal. . ."

"Was?" Holly and Draco interjected at the same time.

Artemis silenced Draco with a look and turned his attention back to Holly. "When I abducted you, I was only thinking of the ransom. You weren't supposed to be in any danger."

Holly snorted. "Apart from biobombs and trolls."

"The LEP sent in the troll. . ." Artemis sighed and broke off. "Sometimes plans don't translate smoothly from paper to real life."

'Was that an apology?' Holly wondered.

Draco shifted in his seat. It wasn't right, seeing Artemis Fowl. . . reduced to pleading with a fairy. He was Artemis Fowl. It wasn't right. "Holly, help us out," he found himself saying. "He's right, this is important. A man's life is at stake here."

Startled, Artemis gave Malfoy a very different sort of look from the first one he'd given him. Artemis was astonished that Malfoy was helping him out like this. 'After all,' Artemis reasoned, 'I was losing face, begging with her. Shouldn't Malfoy be just sitting back and laughing at his rival? Now Malfoy's shamed, too, and it's not even his father.'

Draco continued, "I know you don't like us, but we did rescue your officer for you. I told you all kinds of secrets--about my own house. Can't you share your information with us now? Everyone keeps saying how dangerous the Mafiya is. We need your help. D'arvit, Holly, this is his father."

Artemis swallowed. 'No, Draco hasn't been shamed at all. He's being. . . noble. How can there be loss of dignity in that?'

Now it was Holly's turn to feet shamed. She knew it wasn't easy growing up without a father--she'd been barely 60 when her own father had died. And look at the kind of father Lucius Malfoy was. Yet Draco appeared to be trying to reunite Fowl with his father without any thoughts of selfishness or jealousy. Maybe the blonde had gotten in with the wrong crowd--meaning Fowl--and maybe he came from a line of dark wizards. But now a hint of goodness seemed to be shining through. Maybe, just maybe, she could help out Draco Malfoy even if she could never trust Artemis Fowl.

Or maybe even Fowl was salvageable?

All this flashed through her mind in a second. Then she spoke. "Very well, listen up." The boys leaned in, as did Butler. "With the advances in human technology over the last two centuries, the LEP have had to shut down a large number of terminals. We abandoned northern Russia in the 1960's. The entire Kola peninsula is a nuclear disaster, and the People have no tolerance for radiation. Plus we've never particularly liked the Artic--it's too cold. So what we have left in Russia is one unmanned terminal with little or no aboveground facilities, about 20 klicks north of Murmansk."

Artemis tapped his fingers against the arm of the chair.

"I've got my broom with me."

Artemis raised his eyebrows.

"It's shrunken down--which really isn't good for it, but anyway--I only have to reverse the spell if we need it. It's in my pocket."

"Hmm." Artemis's face relaxed into his planning expression.

Draco smiled and looked over at Butler. Butler smiled back.

The centaur's voice came through the speakers. "OK, Captain. You've got a clear run. Take it easy on the thrusters--this is the humans' first time seeing the chutes. Don't frighten them."

Holly smiled rather maliciously and gunned the throttle. "No, of course not."

The humans fastened their safety restraints.

Holly smirked and made her way into the main chute. It was deeper than infinity, pulsing with a red glow from the earth's core. Holly let the shuttle plunge into the abyss. Even in this trash can of a goblin ship, which could barely even run, she felt the rush of adrenaline. Holly was no daredevil, really, but she couldn't hold back from wanting that thrill of exhilaration when she flew. Eventually she pulled out of the dive, leveling out. To her satisfaction, Fowl and Butler sighed in relief. But Malfoy laughed.

"That would be great on a broom," he said, grinning at her.

With a sudden lightening of her heart, Holly read in his eyes that same need for glory and speed. She couldn't help herself; she grinned back. "We might make a regular flyboy out of you yet."

Draco leaned back, crossing his legs. "I am a Seeker."

She spoke into her headset. "How's it look aboveground, Foaly?"

"I can't tell a thing--there's too much radiation from that last flare. You're on your own, Holly."

"Don't worry," Draco drawled, still lounging at ease. "You have us."

At that, Holly's eyebrows rose and her mouth quirked into a rather funny expression, indeed. "Oh, that's just what I need."

They arrived at Shuttleport E37. The landing lights came on. Holly frowned. "Those lights shouldn't be working," she muttered. "There hasn't been a power source in this terminal since the last century. The goblins couldn't have fixed it. Only elves would know how."

Artemis tapped a finger on the arm of the chair. "The plot thickens. I smell a traitor. Who would have access to all this technology and a motive for selling it?"

"We'll find out soon enough. Once you get me the trader, my mesmer will have him spilling his guts."

She finished docking the shuttle and showed them where they were on a map of Paris. "According to Foaly, the goblin prisoner has seen this human." She brought a photo up on screen. "He's in Interpol files. Luc Carrere. Here's his address. Immobilize him and show him this." Holly handed Butler what looked like a watch. "It's a com-screen, so I can see Carrere and mesmerize him from down here. I can't go topside--orders. This could be a trap. You're expendable. But this," she indicated the watch, "also contains a shield called the Safetynet. Six foot radius--just touch the screen."

Butler put the watch around his wrist. "You boys, stay here."

Artemis blinked. "Stay here?"

"Don't worry, you'll see everything on the iris-cam."

"What if you need magic?" Artemis protested.

"This kind of thing is my forte," Butler smiled. "I can handle one Muggle."

They watched as Butler entered Luc Carrere's apartment. Draco was fascinated by the iris-cam. Privately, he was beginning to reconsider the benefits of technology.

The Frenchman had some kind of weapon, so Butler approached him cautiously. Holly examined Luc and sighed. "His brain doesn't know a thing. Look at his eyes. He's been mesmerized a number of times. Mesmerizing him again won't tell us anything. He's just following orders at this point."

"Butler, get out of there," Artemis said into the microphone.

Butler wanted to, but he didn't dare move. Carrere was watching him, hand on his gun. When Butler tried to question him about the batteries, Luc pulled the trigger.

Butler protected himself with the Safetynet shield, then disarmed Carrere and left. He heard sirens as he ran out the door. The Frenchman was about to be caught sitting in a room littered with his smuggling pay-off money--which Butler had noticed with some satisfaction was counterfeit.

After Butler was back on board, they returned to LEP headquarters. Fowl was feeling increasingly anxious about his father, but he didn't show it. Besides, when he'd made the bargain, he'd calculated all the odds. Even with the delay, they stood the best chance of a successful rescue with Holly's help.

Now they were sitting in a conference room with Commander Root and Foaly, having just finished their debriefing. Root had just ordered Trouble Kelp, the fairy they'd helped rescue, to try and shake loose any goblin gangs from the deep tunnels. They still needed to know who was organizing the goblins, and why.

Despite everything, now that Artemis had a puzzle, his mind kept turning it over. "Does anyone else think this is too easy? That whole scenario was suspicious."

Root bristled. "We've doubled security at all chutes and the Paris connection has been stopped. The humans still don't know about the people. That's the most important thing. The rest will require an internal investigation. So don't worry your juvenile head about it."

Foaly interrupted quickly. "About Russia--I've got a lead. I traced the email."

"But it was spiked."

"Don't make me laugh. You Mud Men are so backward. I can trace it."

This was all over Draco's head. He just watched Fowl's face.

"Where did you trace it to?"

"Murmansk. Only two matches. The Hall of Justice, or a Mikhael Vassikin on Lenin Prospect."

"What do we know about him?"

"I ran a search on my own intelligence files archive. Quite a few mentions of you, Butler." Draco smirked. "Vassikin is ex-KGB, now working for the Mafiya as an enforcer. His boss is called Britva. Most of their money comes from kidnapping European businessmen. In the last five years, they've abducted seven."

"How many were recovered alive?" Artemis whispered.

"None. In two cases, the negotiators went missing. $8 million lost in ransom."

Butler stood up. "Enough talk. It's time for Mr. Vassikin to meet Mr. Fist."

"Yes," Artemis said, "but you're not going to be one of the lost negotiators. We have to be smarter than him. We already know who the kidnapper is and where he lives. Plus we have fairy backup." Artemis looked at Root. "We do have fairy backup, don't we?"

"You have me," Root replied. "I won't force my people to go to Russia, though."

"I'm going," Holly put in sharply. "I'm the best shuttle pilot you have."

"And you have magic." Draco crossed his arms. "And me."

Artemis actually smiled at him. "Yes. I do."

Root had commandeered the Atlantean ambassador's shuttle and they were now en route north. Holly pulled out strange polymer suits from a locker and shoved them at the boys. "Anti-radiation," she explained.

They suited up; the material shrunk to fit. "Clever," Artemis said. Draco shrugged. Magic did the same thing.

"What about me?" Butler asked. He was wearing enough fairy weaponry to outfit a small squadron.

"We don't have anything large enough. But. . ." Holly smirked at him and held up a spray can. "Hold still. This'll smell, but at least your skin won't glow in the dark."

After that, they bundled up in gloves and overcoats. It was cold in northern Russia.

"We can't shield," Holly told them. "The vibration makes the suits useless."

Artemis frowned.

"We move out in five," Commander Root took charge. "I want everybody armed and dangerous."

Draco twirled his wand around in his hand, expertly rolling it between each finger. "Oh, we're armed."

Artemis moved his own wand to a more accessible pocket.

Draco looked at Fowl, the brains behind the mission, as always, he thought with a wry inner smile. "What's the plan?"

"We'll set up a surveillance post near Vassikin's apartment. At the first opportunity, Butler will snatch our Russian friend and we'll chat. He'll tell us whatever we need to know under the mesmer. Then we'll stupefy the guards and rescue my father."

"If things don't go according to plan?" Root growled.

"We improvise."

The fairies both looked decidedly uneasy at the look in his eyes. Butler remained implacably calm. Draco shrugged and smirked at Holly. "It's alright; we're Slytherin."

They left the fairy terminal and entered into an icy artic night. They couldn't get Foaly on the line--the Commander blamed magma flares. "We'll have to walk," Root decided. "Butler, you lead. Capt. Short, bring up the rear."

They followed a railway line. It was easier to walk that way, as the snow wasn't piled up in such large drifts there. They didn't talk much--it was just too cold.

Finally Holly looked at Artemis and spoke. "Fowl, your father. Is he like you?"

Draco watched Artemis tense. "That's a strange question. Why do you ask?"

"I'm naturally concerned for the People. Will this man we rescue try to destroy us?"

Artemis took a breath and Draco moved a little closer. He was glad there were no desks around them to explode--just in case.

"You have no cause to be alarmed," he replied after a long moment of silence. "Some of my father's ventures may have been illegal but my father was--is--a noble man. The idea of harming another creature would be repugnant to him."

"So what happened to you?"

Draco's eyes widened. Fowl's expression remained carefully neutral. "I. . . I made a mistake."

Holly tried to see his face from her position slightly behind him. Was he sincere? She no longer knew how to take Artemis Fowl. She couldn't dismiss him as nothing but a villain anymore.

And Malfoy--she saw the way Malfoy was looking at him with concern. The boy had loyalty. Wasn't that the trait of a good man?

But now Malfoy was turning to her, and he was scowling. "What about you? You're a policeman. Your whole job is harming people."

Holly spluttered. "I arrest criminals!"

"Right. You abduct people out of their normal lives using deadly force and then lock them away."

"People who are harming others!"

The scowl dropped away and Malfoy stared at her with inscrutable eyes. "Still people. You're just like those self-righteous Gryffindors; everything's black and white to you. Maybe they don't want to harm anybody. Sometimes you don't have much choice."

Holly just blinked at him, mouth open. Draco sneered and turned away, only to see Fowl staring at him with a strange expression again. "What?"

"Remember once when I told you that you were complicated and unpredictable?" Fowl answered with a lifting of his eyebrows. "You still are."

Draco's lips quirked.

Holly fell back, ignoring them. The corners of Fowl's mouth lifted up in response to the other boy's almost smile.

They moved into a ravine, and saw Butler raise a hand for them to stop. Root hurried forward. "Is there trouble?"

Butler was peering around. "This would be a good spot for an ambush."

Root shook his head. "Nobody could know we're coming."

"Oh? What about them?" Draco pointed at four shapes rising above the ridge. It was a goblin hit squad.

Butler grabbed a boy in each hand and flung them into a snow drift. "Stay down," he ordered, drawing his weapon. Root and Holly did, as well. The goblins hovered 1,000 feet above them.

"Captain Short and I will stun them," Root told Butler. "No need for anyone to die."

So saying, Holly and Root began to fire--that is, they tried. But nothing happened when they pulled the trigger. They tried other weapons they were carrying, without result.

"I checked these myself." Root's brows were drawn together anxiously.

Artemis got his face out of the snow. "It has to be sabotage. This is why goblins need softnose weapons, because they've somehow disrupted fairy lasers."

"Who could do that?" Draco asked him.

The adults were ignoring them as they focused on the goblins. The hit squad had no problems with their weapons, as they proved when several laser shots burst around them.

"We need cover. Fast."

"Are they close enough to hit with magic?" Artemis asked Malfoy.

"Maybe. Barely. It's worth a try."

"After we get under cover," Butler said brusquely, picking up both boys again and making for an icy overhang under the ridge. The fairies followed.

They ducked under the canopy of ice. Butler shielded Artemis with his body.

"OK, now they're too far away," Draco sighed, but he pulled out his wand anyway.

Holly activated her helmet Optix, zooming in on the goblins. "They're all firing, but not at us. They're shooting way over our heads." She looked puzzled.

Butler felt his stomach clench. "It's a trap! Out, out!" He grabbed the two boys and threw them. Just about then, 50 tons of rock, ice, and snow set into motion by the goblin fire crashed down on the party.