Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Artemis Fowl. Those go to Eoin Colfer.
Chapter 9: Behind the Hazel Eyes
E18, UK
Holly Short ducked into the shuttle bathroom. Artemis' words stung, and everything he had said was true. Going after Opal without evidence would blow the whole case. She looked at her face in the mirror. Her once cherubic and sharp features seemed gaunt, and it didn't look like her. No one else would notice the difference, but she did. Ever since Julius had died, she felt weak where she had once been so strong. It wasn't physical, but in her heart. To her, it felt like her father's death all over again but worse. This time, she could have prevented it, she could have saved the commander.
For many days after Opal had been caught and she'd started her private eye service, she'd had terrible dreams, and Holly had done everything to stop them, even not sleeping at all. Eventually she'd come to accept it, and went back to normal life. Well, she chuckled, as normal a life as she could have. But with the kidnapping of Trouble, and knowing that it was Opal, it tore her up. There was no way she was going to allow Opal to take another LEP or friend. And the innocent Mud Girl, all she had done was, well, nothing really. She just got too close to Artemis, and Opal had exploited that. What a bad time for Arty to finally start acting like a regular teenager.
"Um, Holly?" Mulch's voice came through the door. She was surprised that there seemed to be a touch of concern in his voice. Her hope that Mulch was changing into a considerate person was instantly dashed by his next comment. "I really, really need to get in there, or it won't be pretty."
Holly let out an exasperated sighed, stepping out, and caught Mulch's gleeful face as he rushed past her into the small restroom. She headed back to the cockpit, checking the flight course, and readjusting some sensors, trying to occupy herself. Behind her, she heard muted steps approaching her. She turned, and found that it was Foaly.
"I have something for you," he said. He pulled out a small package, awkwardly handing it to her. She didn't bother hiding the surprised look on her face. Usually she got things for Foaly, not vise-versa.
"Aw, it isn't even my birthday," She pulled apart the box. Inside, was her Neutrino 3000. "Foaly!" She gasped. "You can't give me this! I'd have to register it, and it's stolen from the LEP!" She paused, glancing slyly at Foaly. " I never thought you had it in you." Holly added with a touch of pride.
"Well, you have to have it," Foaly snorted. "I told you, that Neutrino is a one-female gun. I couldn't reset it for another officer, so I was ordered to destroy it. But I could claim that it was destroyed and wipe out it's IA record. No one will know that it still exists."
"Thanks Foaly," Holly said softly. She knew that he could get into big trouble for what he'd done. Bigger trouble than a simple suspension.
"By the way, we should be reaching the first station in less than two hours. Any plans?"
"I'm glad you asked. Artemis has a plan that he'd like to discuss," Foaly said, and he turned back to the main section, and after a final moment checking the instruments, Holly followed.
"Alright Holly, we've decided that the best plan of action would require you," Artemis paused, "if it isn't difficult for you, to start the search alone. Only as a precaution," he added quickly. "Until we're sure that it is the correct shuttle port, Butler and I would rather not reveal our presence. You are the only one that would face the least amount of commotion to the Sisterhood, being the only female of our party. Even though men are allowed, Foaly is needed here for technical support, and is also easily recognizable. Mulch would simply--"
"I'd simply flirt with every good looking pixie there," Mulch finished, poking his head around the bathroom door. Holly quickly averted her gaze. Looks like being the only surveyor on a dangerous mission wasn't the only hazard of her being the only girl with this lot.
"I was going to say that it would seem bad, an ex-criminal wandering around, searching alcoves, and simply being suspicious," Artemis pretended to ponder. "Your answer seems better."
Mulch grinned, emerging from the bathroom. He slowly shut the door behind him. "No one go in for a while," he chuckled. From the looks on his companions faces, Mulch guessed that none of them would.
Less than two hours later, Holly returned to the cockpit and guided the shuttle towards the docking clamps. Hiding her Neutrino 3000 in her pocket, she prepared to head down the exit ramp.
"Wait Holly," Foaly whinnied. "Did you think we were going to send you alone?" With that, he handed her and earpiece and mike set. "No iris-cams though. Just keep a steady commentary for us, alright?"
Holly nodded. Of course there wouldn't be a video feed, not unless Foaly had managed to sneak a whole helmet out of Police Plaza. And at the time of his suspension, he probably hadn't been thinking about an iris-cam that was Holly's eye color. Still, had hoped that he had some other form of visual so that if she was incapacitated they could come and get her.
Turning on the earpiece, she started down the ramp. She searched quickly, trying every door. The shuttle port was practically empty, except for one girl, blowing what looked to be illegal Mud Man chewing gum bubbles. She looked harmless enough, but Holly studied her carefully. The young pixie was wearing one of the traditional uniforms of the Sisterhood, a silk kimono-type gown. That was dangerous, for Holly knew that many weapons could be hidden in an outfit like that. However, there was no badge sewn on the front.
Sensing Holly, the girl looked up coolly. "Can I, like, help you?" she asked, her voice annoyingly high.
"Are you the only one here?" Holly countered. The pixie nodded.
"Yeah, I'm Brittany. I have to be here because the Senior Sisters are, um, like, reviewing my file," Brittany paused, seeing Holly's confused look. "I'm a candidate for entry to the Sisterhood. They make me do nasty jobs to prove myself. Initiation is, like, really hard."
"So I've heard Brittany," Holly said, trying to be polite. It was hard to do, and she felt a big headache coming on from the girl's voice. "I'm looking for some friends of mine, would you know anything about that? Any unusual people here lately?"
"No, but I know what you're talking about," Brittany responded. Holly was shocked. Could this girl know where Opal had Trouble? She shook her head as she realized that the girl was still talking.
"Friends disappear all the time. My friend Kenneth, well, she just started dressing all retro and stuff and wants to find some resort called enlightenment or something. So off she goes. And my other friend Whitney, she just--"
"Uh, I'm really sorry," Holly stammered, avoiding Brittany's eyes that looked as if they could throw knives at her for interrupting. "I have to go find my people, so, thanks for your time!" Holly quickly walked away, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to relieve her migraine. Behind her, she heard Brittany muttering.
"Whatever," was all the heiress said, and she went straight back to blowing bubbles. As soon as she saw Holly get back on the shuttle, she slowly pulled a transceiver from her deep sleeve. With a casual flick of her finger, it sparked to life.
"I've just had a visitor," she said quietly, and heard a cruel laughter in response. She waited it out.
"Very good, report back here at once. We have to finish setting up," the voice cackled. And suddenly, it stopped, Brittany having pushed the MUTE button. She cautiously turned the volume back on, only to still hear laughter. So she turned it off entirely. In front of her, the sleek shuttle left the hangar bay, completely unaware of her treachery.
An elf, especially one in the LEP, usually learns to become very patient when on stake-out or on regular duty. Holly's patience was running low. After meeting a Kristina and another Brittany, each with equally annoying voices, the plan looked as if it might fail. Even worse, there were four more stations to check, each one guarded by a young, helium pitched voice accompanied by a candidate.
Foaly seemed to notice the lack of progress, and called another meeting. He asked Holly to show everyone her gun. "Artemis, try to fire it," the centaur demanded. Artemis took it and tried to fire. It didn't work. Foaly immediately launched into explaining the gun's properties.
"Goblins aren't the smartest creatures under the earth. So, the new B'wa Kell, if it does attempt another takeover, will try to disable weapons like before."
"You told us this already," Mulch protested. Foaly ignored the dwarf.
"Except for their softnose lasers. But your weapon, as I told you before, runs by kinetics. It is not able to be shut down."
"So, this time the LEP could fight back," she realized.
"Well, yes and no. Sool hasn't approved to issue my idea to actual weapons yet. Only a handful of the higher up officers have them. The fight wouldn't be fair, but better than last time. Only one problem. All of the higher up fairies will be in one location, Opal's trial." He whinnied mournfully. "It is cutoff from the outside world. No broadcasts, phone calls, no communication. There would be no way that all those officers would be allowed to have there weapons in the courthouse. The whole rebellion would be over by the time the jury delivered it's sentence."
Butler looked thoughtful. "I've seen rebellions. There is no way that they would allow a whole courthouse of officers to slip through their fingers. It is a golden opportunity to destroy their enemy's head honchos. It has probably been booby trapped."
"But how?" Mulch questioned. "Will the roof collapse, or will a biobomb be set off? Either way, it's a risk for Koboi."
"No," Artemis said. "Most likely, as soon as she is seen leaving the courthouse, a bomb, a regular bomb, will be set off."
"But if she is found guilty, then she'll be taken into the back of the courthouse for transportation to the prison," Butler said. "Unless she knows that she'll be found innocent and allowed to walk out the front door, the LEP should be long gone."
"Then there must be a missing key to her plan," Artemis said. His face closed as he started to think, and noticed a similar look on Foaly's face. Great minds make the same facial contortions when thinking.
Suddenly, a beeping came from the cockpit. She jogged over to the controls. "We're here!" She called. Great, another teen pixie.
A few minutes later, too few, in Holly's mind, she was walking down the exit ramp. There was a chair in a dark area of the terminal, and a pixie was in it, her back to Holly. In front of her, however, was a large, covered box.
"Hello?" she asked cautiously. Something here was defiantly not right. The sudden laughter coming from the pixie in the chair didn't ease that feeling at all.
"Why, the great Holly Short has graced me with her presence. I wondered how long I would have to wait," The pixie turned, and Holly was surprised to see that she had a badge on her kimono. This was an official Sister, like the one that had sent the message. Holly tried to remember the recording. This pixie had a lower voice, evil sounding, but not annoying. This was her.
"Foaly, it's her!" Holly whispered, her lips barely moving. She knew that the flesh-tone mike would pick up vibrations and send them to Foaly. There was no need to shout.
"Trying to inform you friends where you are? Don't bother, I've jammed all communication," the pixie said. "But please, stay a while."
With that, the pixie launched herself at Holly. But Holly had drawn her Neutrino 3000. She pulled off a shot seconds before the pixie would have hit her. The setting was one, and Holly cursed herself for not setting it higher. Already, the pixie across from her was getting up. Holly saw her push a button on her wrist, and goblins streamed past her, heading towards the shuttle. She turned, hoping to maybe warn the others, but the pixie slammed into her. As the two fought for her gun, she read the Sister's name.
"Amber Brill? Aren't' you--" But simply hearing her name made Amber fight harder. Finally she peeled herself away. Holly had managed to keep hold of her Neutrino, and raised it towards Amber.
Amber was breathing heavy, doubled over. For a moment, Holly lowered her weapon. If Amber was allergic to laser bursts, then that one hit could have been pretty bad. Then, she realized, that the Brill sister was pulling out a buzz baton, aiming it at her.
"That won't work very well from over there," Holly chided. But again, Amber started laughing.
"Miss Short, this is slightly modified. I knew that the giant Mud Man would be here, and he'll hardly go down without a fight. So, I've armed my goblins with a few of these super charged buzz batons. They are quite effective. Want a demonstration?" Before holly could even try to dodge, she felt electricity coursing through her body. She fell to her knees.
"The only bad point, Holly," Amber continued, "is that they're only good for three hits. That means you have two more."
Holly struggled to her feet, and again tried to fight Amber. The only difference from their first tangle, was that this time Holly was trying to get the weapon. With amazing strength, Amber kicked her into the terminal wall. And Holly saw what was behind the box cover. A cage. And trouble was in the middle of it, tied to the Mud Girl. For a brief moment, she locked eyes with him, but the next hit from the baton hit her. She screamed in agony.
"Aw, is the great hero about to cry?" the pixie mocked in a baby voice.
Holly pulled herself up. "I don't cry anymore. Not for the likes of you."
"Oh! She's got spunk, I'll give her that!" Amber squealed. She looked over her shoulder. "Looks like your friends didn't."
Weakly turning to see, she saw that the goblins were returning, carrying Foaly, Artemis, and Mulch. Butler was being more or less dragged by a dozen goblins. She saw that Mulch's beard was standing up completely, and that Foaly's whole body looked like a Chia pet. The goblins hadn't just stunned Butler, they had stunned the others. She wasn't sure if any of them could take it except Butler. She was barely standing after being hit twice by one baton. How many times had they been hit? She remembered once, when they were in L.A., Holly had used her own buzz baton ob mulch's posterior. She hoped that his bum flap had been shut, for his sake.
Out of nowhere, she felt a hit to her stomach, and Amber grabbed her gun out of her hands. Dazed, she turned to see that she was now staring down the barrel of her own weapon.
"Give me a reason, any reason," Amber said. Holly let out a groan that was completely unrelated to pain.
"Don't shoot, I give up." Weakly, she raised her hands. For a moment, Amber seemed to consider whether or not she should shoot Holly, them decided against it with a pout on her face. Of course, the pixie couldn't fire the weapon, but if she thought that she had a deadly weapon, one that was actually useless to her, then when the opportunity came, Holly could fight back. But as long as the Sister had her baton, there was nothing she could do.
"Tie them up," Amber demanded. "And tie them around the cage, so that they can't reach each other."
As rough goblin hands grabbed Holly, she fought to stay conscious. She was pushed into the cage, and fastened to the side, the rope that bound her weaved through the bars. Except for Trouble and Alexis, the cage was empty. Out of the corner of her vision, she saw them tying Butler with chains, and some putting tape over Mulch's mouth.
"Hmm," she heard behind her. Amber stepped into the cage. "Those two haven't been hit yet." She twirled her baton with ease.
"Don't you dare," Holly spat out. Big mistake, as it turned out.
"Oh? So I suppose you want it then. " And Amber let her have it. Behind Amber, Holly heard Alexis scream. "Oops, metal is conductive, isn't it?" Amber smiled, and that was the last thing Holly saw.
Bwahahahahaha! I'm working on my evil laugh.