ASN: Insert standard disclaimer here

As the dust settles from Butler's sonix grenade, the only thing I can feel is disbelief. Jon Spiro tried to steal from me! Then he threatened me, and if it hadn't been for Butler's sonix grenade...

I can feel myself start to shake, and I sink back into my chair.

Butler and I could have died.

I misjudged Jon Spiro, and only Butler's planning saved us from dying a rather ignoble death at the hands of Spiro's goon.

However, we didn't die, and the Cube must be retrieved. I doubt Spiro can break my eternity code, but if he does....

He could discover the People. And he would not rest until he had drained them of everything they had.

If we can stop Spiro before he leaves the country, this could be wrapped up neatly. Butler knows someone in the security at Heathrow, I seem to recall...

And then the bodyguard steps out of the kitchen, silhouetted by the afternoon sun.

He saved my life.

"Butler, we must really talk regarding your salary..."

Wait...that's not Butler! It's Blunt!

How can he possibly be up moving around?! His eardrums should have been ruptured.

He mumbles something through broken teeth and holds out two bits of yellow foam.

"Earplugs. I always wear 'em before a fight. Good thing too, eh?"

He raises his pistol towards me, and time seems to slow. My mind goes completely blank, and my world narrows to the sight of the wrong end of a gun pointed at me.

"You first," I hear Blunt lisp through his shattered teeth, "Then the ape."

No...

There is a small popping sound as the silenced pistol fires, and suddenly Butler slams into me. I crash into the dessert cart, and Butler falls on top of me. I smash through the first shelf and sink into a marsh of pastries and ice cream. I hear more shots as Butler fires back at Blunt.

Silence.

And then I hear the sound of a body thumping to the tile floor.

I start to move, trying to extricate myself from my squishy refuge. A visit to the chiropractor will definitely be next on my list, as soon as we retrieve my Cube. Butler might benefit from a visit also, although he does have the constitution of a troll.

I crawl from the wreckage of the cart, and cream horns explode all over my suit.

I'll have to get this cleaned before my parents return home.

"Really, Butler," I grumble, finally getting free, "I must begin choosing my business associates more carefully. Hardly a day goes by when we aren't the victims of some plot."

The henchman is unconscious on the floor. Good. A death would be hard to explain.

"Another villain dispatched. Good shooting, Butler, as usual. And one more thing, I have decided to wear a bulletproof vest to all future meetings. That should make your job somewhat easier, eh?"

I look at Butler, and notice a large hole in shirt.

A large, red, oozing hole.

D' Arvit.

"Butler, you're injured. Shot. But the Kevlar?" I stammer, dropping to my knees beside him. One look, and I understand.

Arno Blunt tried to shoot me from a very close range. Butler jumped in between us, and the bullet was traveling at such high velocity that it tore through the vest like paper.

There has to be something I can do.

There's always something I can do!!

"Artemis...is that you?" he gasps softly, and my thoughts scatter.

"Yes, it's me." I reply softly. I can hear the tremor in my voice. Please, no...

"Don't worry. Juliet will protect you. You'll be fine." It takes me a moment to catch what he's talking about. He wants Juliet to guard me? But that means....

"Don't talk, Butler. Lie still. The wound is not serious." I say firmly, my mind racing.

His body shakes as the bodyguard splutters out a weak laugh.

"Very well, it is serious. But I will think of something. Just stay still."

Butler can't die. I will think of something. I'm a genius, for God's sake! Surely I can think of something, the one time it really matters!

Butler raises a hand towards me. "Goodbye, Artemis. My friend."

I can feel tears running down my face. Tears of frustration for my lack of ideas.

Tears of grief, for my best friend is dying.

And it's my fault.

"Goodbye, Butler."

He looks up at me calmly. "Artemis, call me Domovoi."

Domovoi? A Russian guardian spirit. Odd choice for a name. But why is he telling me this? A bodyguard should never reveal his name, because it helps keep a professional distance between him and his principal. Unless, of course, it no longer matters...

"Goodbye, Domovoi. Goodbye, my friend." I sob, clutching his hand.

And then it slips from my grip.

Butler is gone.

"No!" I shout, staggering backwards.

It wasn't supposed to end like this. We were supposed to die together in some grand adventure, as friends. After defeating a troll in hand to hand combat, Butler simply cannot be defeated by some grandstanding, second rate muscleman.

Although he was wounded in the encounter with the troll. But Holly healed him.

The fairies!

I have to contact the LEP and convince Holly to heal Butler again. She could do it, and what's more, she might do it.

But Butler only has four minutes before his brain shuts down for good.

That's not long enough for me to contact her.

Think, boy, think. Use what the situation provides.

A fish restaurant?

Worthless! Useless! I need proper tools. Then maybe I could do something. But all I have here are ovens, sinks, kitchen utensils, freezers....

Freezers!

If I can only halt Butler's passage through time, I could contact the LEP and they could arrive at their leisure.

It's a very risky idea. Cryogenics has never been proven to work in humans.

But it's my only idea.

And it's Butler's only hope.

Thoughts spin around my head as I board the Learjet to Chicago and the Spiro Needle. As Butler said, this plan to fool Jon Spiro and retrieve my stolen Cube from his possession is definitely the most convoluted plan I've ever come up with. It's also the most complicated and most intricate scheme I've ever imagined.

It's also the scheme with the most potential to fall apart—no, to shatter—into a million pieces if any one part goes wrong.

Despite my confident reassurance to Butler, I'm not at all comfortable with this plan. It's very complex, and I had to come up with it in a very short time.

My plans aren't always this important, either. It's very rarely been vital that my plans succeed. Most of the time they have succeeded anyway, of course, but there was never this much pressure.

Except when I kidnapped and ransomed Holly. There failure would have cost me my life, as well as the lives of Butler, Juliet, and my mother.

Here, failure could, in all probability, plunge the world into an interspecies war if Spiro breaks my eternity code and learns of the People's existence.

I'm not usually this worried over things.

It must be because Butler's not with me. He's always been with me, for as long as I can remember. Not having him around is like missing a very important part of myself. Like an arm, or a leg.

Or a conscience.

I shake my head violently. My self-confidence has taken a very large hit, and I know it. I've always been so proud of having people underestimate me because of my age, so that I can surprise them with my abilities. However, this time, I underestimated Jon Spiro. Badly. It cost Butler his life, and it was only by the slightest of chances that Holly healed him. It will cost us our memories unless I think of something...

And it's very hard to concentrate with Mulch babbling happily in my ear. My plan depends on him, but...

"Hey, Artemis," he says through a mouthful of my caviar, "Do you remember the time I nearly blew Butler's head off with a blast of gas?"

I stare at him, unsmiling. Can't he think of anything better to talk about? And doesn't he realize that I need to concentrate? "I remember, Mulch. You were the wrench in an otherwise perfect works."

"To tell you the truth, it was an accident. I was just nervous. I didn't even realize the big guy was there."

I sigh softly and resign myself to a conversation with the kleptomaniac. "That makes me feel even better. Done in by a bowel problem." I say sarcastically, although Mulch doesn't seem to notice.

"And do you remember the time I saved your neck in Koboi Laboratories? If it hadn't been for me, you'd be locked up in Howler's Peak right now. Can't you do anything without me?"

Apparently, the dwarf forgot that the only reason I was in the Laboratories was to save his life. I consider pointing this out, but it will likely have no effect on the babbling dwarf.

"Apparently not, though I live for the day." I say dryly, sipping my mineral water.

Holly enters, much to my relief.

"We better get you ready, Artemis. We land in thirty minutes."

"Good idea." I say, standing.

The elf dumps her bag onto the table. "Okay, what do we need for now? The throat mike and an iris camera." She rummages around until she comes out with the desired items. She peels the back off a large circular bandage and, without further ado, sticks it onto my neck.

"Memory latex," explains Holly. "It's almost invisible. Maybe an ant crawling up your neck might notice it, but apart from that... The material is also X-ray proof, so the mike is undetectable. It will pick up whatever is said in a ten-yard radius, and I can record it on my helmet chip. Unfortunately, we can't risk an earpiece. Too visible, so we can hear you, but you won't be able to hear us."

That's unfortunate, but I never expected to have that advantage, so I planned accordingly. "And the camera?"

Holly pulls the lens from a vial and proceeds to give an equally detailed description of the camera mechanism.

"This thing is a marvel. We've got high-resolution, digital quality, recordable picture with several filter options, including magnification and thermal."

"You're starting to sound like Foaly." Mulch says snidely.

Indeed she is...wait...

"A technological marvel it may be, but it's hazel," I say. This is an unexpected complication...

"Of course it's hazel. My eyes are hazel," Holly replies uncomprehendingly.

"I'm glad to hear it, Holly," I say, a little annoyed at her obtuseness. "But my eyes are blue, as you well know. This iris-cam will not do."

Holly scowls back at me. "Don't look at me, Mud Boy. You're the genius."

I stare at her, and I can feel my brow furrow further. "I can't go in there with one brown eye and one blue eye. Spiro will notice."

"Well," she shoots back, "You should have thought of that while you were meditating. It's a little late now."

I sigh and rub the bridge of my nose. "You're right, of course," I answer resignedly. "I am the mastermind here. Thinking is my responsibility, not yours."

Holly looks at me suspiciously. "Was that an insult, Mud Boy?"

Mulch saves me from having to think of an answer that won't get my nose broken. "I have to tell you, Arty, a screwup this early in the proceedings doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. I hope you're as clever as you keep telling everyone you are."

I turn to the dwarf and give him my most forbidding and ominous smile. "I never tell anybody exactly how clever I am. They would be too scared." The dwarf doesn't appear moved, and I turn to Holly, firmly back in control. "Very well, we will have to risk the hazel iris-cam. With any luck, Spiro might not notice. If he does, I can invent some excuse."

Holly carefully slips the camera into my eye, and I blink a few times.

"It's your decision, Artemis," she said softly. "I just hope you haven't met your match in Jon Spiro."

As do I.

I watch as Holly returns to the cockpit and Mulch returns to his dinner. I take a deep breath and sit, readying myself for my role as frightened hostage.

I am definitely able to take care of Jon Spiro and retrieve my Cube.

Too much depends on our success to have me fail.