A/N: Back again. (A year this time, oi. Hope any of you who might still be here had a happy holiday, it's hard to believe it's 2020 already.)
In any case, you have The Fowl Twins to thank for this update. I finally got a chance to listen to the audiobook and it was just so exciting to get more new Fowl content, I couldn't help but come back and get some work done on this project. The timing couldn't be better, as I'd been hoping to get back into the series and sneak a couple more updates in before the movie comes out in May. (Who knows if the movie will be good, but I'm still insanely excited for it.)
Thanks to anyone who's still around even after all these years, this is definitely an important chapter I've been hoping to get to. Hope you enjoy, and see you at the end! :J
Chapter 14: Impaired
Holly awoke to find her face numb with cold. She shivered in the chill air and wrapped her blankets a little closer. However, her eyes fell on the ornate clock that hung above the fireplace, and she could just make out the hands through the darkness. With a groan, she forced herself to sit up.
She'd managed to get a few hours of sleep, and it was early morning, but being winter, it was still pitch black outside, as it would be for several more hours.
Holly wondered if there was any chance Artemis would be awake yet. She needed to talk to him about what they were going to do before Foaly and Trouble finished with the goblin and she was dragged back to Dublin and Major Evergreen's team.
Holly folded up the blankets and made sure all her equipment was in place. She hesitated a moment, then strapped on her wingpack, though it was still throwing out the occasional spark, and she doubted it would be good for anything before Foaly had a look at it. She swept the room for any more of her equipment, then turned and headed for the Fowl master bedroom.
Holly arrived to find the door open a crack. She carefully inched it inward, and a moment later caught sight of Butler, sitting in an armchair directly facing the door. His arms were folded and his eyes closed, making her think he had fallen asleep, but perhaps he caught the whisper of her boots on the carpet, because his eyes suddenly opened and he met her gaze.
Holly nodded in greeting, then leaned in and poked her head around the door.
There had been a change of arrangements since the previous night. The four-poster bed was occupied by Angeline, the twins, and Juliet, while Artemis Fowl Senior laid on his back on the air mattress nearby, his hands folded neatly over his stomach like a corpse being sent downriver. Beside him on the air mattress was an empty space of rumpled blankets.
Holly located Artemis sitting at a writing desk on the far side of the room, laptop open in front of him. Already he was dressed in a new crisp black suit, his raven hair neatly combed back from his forehead.
Holly opened her mouth to get his attention, but then glanced at the room's other occupants.
Butler, however, seemed to realize what she wanted, and called in very low voice, "Artemis."
Artemis turned his head briefly, and his eyes fell on Holly.
She mouthed, We need to talk. She gestured back toward the hallway.
Artemis nodded once, then stood, closing his laptop and tucking it under one arm.
Butler started to rise as well, but Artemis shook his head once, gesturing first toward his family, then to Holly. Holly interpreted that to mean, Someone needs to stay here and guard the others. And besides, Holly will be with me.
Apparently Butler had no trouble understanding this nonverbal communication, but he didn't look too happy about it. He gave Holly a pointed look, and Holly had to fight not to wince.
Holly followed Artemis down the hall and he led her into a side room. He closed the door behind them, then set his laptop on the desk, holding down the power button to turn it off. Numbers whirred across the screen for a moment before it went dark.
Holly glanced at their surroundings. This was Artemis's personal study, the same study from which Nº1 had sent them back in time, and Opal had mesmerized Butler into caging them in a barrel of animal fat. Everything was just as it had been back then—the dark oak computer desk, the deep pile carpet underfoot, and of course, the wardrobe in the corner.
"Someone will have to have a look at that wingpack," Artemis commented. "I will have to point out to Foaly the flaw in such craftsmanship if it can be so easily compromised."
Holly's mind came back to the present, and though a smile tugged at her lips, she didn't comment. Instead she asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Well enough," he replied, a little too quickly. "I must apologize for my untoward behavior last night. I had hoped I was past this, but it seems I am still subject to the Complex's whims."
"I know," Holly said. "Don't worry about that. We've got bigger problems." Holly nodded once to herself, then plunged right in. "There's something not right about all this. What do you think about this goblin? What's going on here?"
Artemis sat heavily in the black-leathered computer chair by his desk. Holly opted to lean against a nearby lamp table.
"I have many thoughts," he said slowly. "But I can't form any clear conclusions. I need time to meditate. A block of uninterrupted thought to make sense of all these details, to penetrate deeper—but even prior to my illness, my train of thought has always been easy to lose, and consequently the Complex makes extended, continuous thought nearly impossible. I can't seem to go beyond a certain level, and the half-formed theories I have been able to collect have been far from useful. None lead to possible solutions."
Holly studied Artemis carefully. His voice was even and in control, but in her magical empathy she detected something different. In his eyes she saw the same look she had seen all those months ago that helped alert her to the seriousness of his condition. A look of defeat.
Holly remembered how they had pulled him out of this mood the last time. Perhaps she could use Artemis's defiant nature to her advantage.
"So what should we do?" Holly asked, arms folded. "Give up and go home?"
Artemis's eyes dropped to the floor and, as she had hoped, he looked a little irritated. "No," he muttered. "Of course not."
Holly nodded. "Okay then. What are these half-formed theories?"
Artemis's eyes flickered uneasily around the room. His fingers tapped vaguely against his breast pocket. Holly counted the number of taps and her eyebrows creased.
Come on, Artemis, she thought. You can do it. Don't let it control you.
But maybe she was doing the wrong thing. Maybe this wasn't what Artemis needed after all.
However, Artemis's hand stopped moving, and slowly dropped to his side. He closed his eyes and took a deep, silent breath, and when he opened his eyes again they were cool and analytical. Holly breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"I do have some thoughts," he said. "This case presents us with a series of questions, a collection of oddities. The goblin and demons' activities would seem at first glance to be no more than the carousing of a few unstable criminals. They are not the first fairies to run to the surface and wreak havoc for the sole purpose of their own entertainment. However, clearly there is something more going on here. An ordinary rogue goblin criminal doesn't have state-of-the-art equipment, nor has he received formal combat training. The fact that he would murder Mud Men, then go to elaborate means to cover up the murders also seems unlikely."
Holly rolled her eyes. "You know, that information was supposed to be restricted."
Artemis flashed a tiny smug smile. "I like to keep up on these things. And you would have told me anyway."
Holly conceded the point by waving a hand for him to continue.
His expression was serious again. "The obvious theory here is that these rogues are not acting alone, but under the orders of a mastermind. These murders must have some purpose, some longterm end goal, but the mastermind wants the LEP to believe that the goblin and demons are no more than they appear, thrill-seekers with no thoughts in their heads but the satisfaction of their immediate amusement."
Holly nodded again. "Right. So if that's the obvious theory, what's the not-obvious theory?"
Artemis looked away briefly. His arms were folded, and a nervous finger tapped his arm. "Well," he began quietly. "The not-obvious theory is that the mastermind desires the appearance of not wanting to be found out, but in truth wants the LEP to realize the presence of a mastermind. And that is the real purpose behind the murders."
"Hmm." Holly considered that. She thought she knew what Artemis was driving at, but it seemed a bit of a stretch. "And why would this mastermind want that?"
Artemis was silent. He didn't meet her gaze, instead only picked at his sleeve, tapping the buttons in a familiar pattern.
Holly sighed. "Well, I guess we'll be getting some more information soon enough. Foaly's probably working on getting inside that goblin's head as we speak. It's probably taken him all night, goblin eyes are a problem for the Retimager. I told him to contact me as soon as he got something."
Artemis had been staring down at his suit sleeve, but suddenly he froze. His eyes widened, and he looked up, face pale.
"What is it?" Holly asked quickly. "What's wrong?"
He climbed slowly to his feet, and began to pace. "I'm a fool," he said softly. "Of course. I should have known. I should have seen..."
"What?" Holly demanded, unnerved.
Artemis stopped where he was and turned sharply to face her. "If the mastermind wants it to known there is a mastermind, there can be only one reason. I have been the target all along. He—or she—means to set me up to take the blame. The goblin has been sent here bearing some kind of information that will condemn me. Of course."
Holly stared at Artemis for a long moment. They had discussed the possibility of Opal trying to frame Artemis many times. It was Opal's MO, after all. And Foaly's comments about the evidence leading back to Fowl Manor had made her suspect it all the more herself. However, the logic wasn't quite jibing. Artemis's demeanor had shifted now, his usual rational calm replaced with growing agitation, just as when he was in the grips of Atlantis Complex paranoia.
The muscles in Artemis's face were tense, his mouth tight. His eyes were hard as flint, but slightly wide now, in the early stages of hysteria.
"You think I don't know that the LEP suspects me of being behind this entire affair?" he said suddenly. "When I went to see my family in the fall, right after my illness was made known, I dreamed—I dreamed that Opal the younger slipped into my room and spellbound me. And did something else besides. And again, when I visited my family over Christmas and we went into the city of Dublin on Christmas Eve at my own request, a request I still cannot fully remember making, for a time I was unaccounted for. Impossibly, I was separated from Butler for almost an hour, an hour I still cannot remember. Dr. Argon first suggested I leave the clinic and come back to stay with my family months ago, but I hesitated. I knew I must not go where I am unwatched, where the LEP will not know what I am doing. You must see, I am the victim of a conspiracy. She is setting me up. Whatever information this goblin gives the LEP, it will declare my guilt. Everyone already suspects me, mistrusts me, and she will use it to her advantage. She will implicate me in this crime, and turn everyone against me."
Holly didn't know quite how to respond to this speech. The idea that Opal might try to set Artemis up had never been far from her mind. But the reasoning seemed uncharacteristically flimsy. Of course Holly had heard of what happened on Christmas Eve, but Dr. Argon had seemed fairly confident that the symptoms of the Atlantis Complex were an adequate explanation, as they could sometimes cause hallucinations, something like delirium, and even memory loss. The doctor had merely advised Butler to keep a closer watch on the boy just in case it happened again. And Artemis dreaming of Opal coming to get him was hardly cause to raise alarm. And the goblin being sent to murder humans for the sole purpose of slipping some piece of damning evidence to the LEP?
"Look, Artemis," Holly began after a pause, trying to be as gentle as possible. Perhaps if she could get him out of Atlantis Complex mode, she might get things on track again.
"You don't believe me," Artemis said flatly. "Of course you don't."
Holly tried to keep her voice reasonable. "It just doesn't make sense, Arty. The goblin would have killed you all if I hadn't just happened to be here. If he followed me here intending to get caught, he did a good job of hiding it. I barely avoided getting done in myself."
Holly hesitated. "Artemis...I'm not saying Opal's not involved somehow, but we've got to separate out the facts from Atlantis fiction."
A hard flicker of irritation passed over Artemis's brow. "You asked me what I thought," he said coldly. "I may not always be in my right mind, Captain, but I was under the impression you still considered my intelligence enough to be of some practical use. It shouldn't take a genius to recognize this as the obvious ploy to dupe the LEP that it is." His eyes were flat, almost accusatory as he said in a low voice, "Of course, it wouldn't be the first time Opal succeeded in doing so."
We're back to Captain, Holly thought. She knew it was the Atlantis Complex talking, but she felt her own irritation rise at the implication in his tone.
"Funny. The way I remember it, I've never been fooled by Opal. Not in that way. In fact, I'm the one she framed the last time. So I think I do have a right to say I know something about the way she operates, funnily enough."
Artemis ignored her. His gaze was flickering all about the room now, as though searching out spying eyes. His laptop, the bed, his desk, the wardrobe—
"You don't trust me," he spat. "It will be easy. Opal can make you think whatever she wants about me and you'll believe her."
Holly could not have been more stunned if he had struck her across the face. A wave of anger hit her like a tsunami, and before she had a chance to think about it, she shot back, "You're not the only person in the world whose life Opal's tried to ruin. She—She made the LEP think I murdered Julius. She got me to set off the detonator that killed him myself."
Holly was blinking rapidly. Before she could stop herself, she went on in a choked voice, "I trusted you enough to follow you all the way to Hybras. I went back in time with you to save Angeline. I told the LEP you weren't behind the probe attack. I... I don't know what else you expect me to do, Artemis."
For a long moment, silence filled the room. Something dark and heavy hung in the icy air, sinking in through the skin.
At last Artemis, staring at the floor, muttered, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
Holly had been trying to steady herself, but somehow at Artemis's apology, she felt her eyes burn all the more. She turned around so he wouldn't see her face.
"Holly?" Artemis said hesitantly.
Holly closed her eyes. The burning pressure behind her eyes slowly abated, and her throat loosened.
"Yeah," she said at last, voice a little scratchy. In spite of herself, she smiled a little. "This isn't helping anything, is it?"
She turned back around to look at him, but Artemis's eyes weren't on her. He was gazing at the floor again. His eyes suddenly flickered to the side, and he gave a soft sneer of contempt.
"Look at me," he said. "Artemis Fowl the Second, great prodigy and heir to the Fowl legacy. So this is what I've become. My own brain won't obey me, and I can't even tell my friends from my enemies."
His mouth tightened, and within his cold, bitter eyes, a haunting desperation rose like a dark wave. "The first thing Opal will do when she escapes her cage, if she hasn't already, is come after me and everyone I care about. I can't think. I can't come up with a plan to counter her or do anything to prepare. She'll destroy everything I ever cared about, and I can't do anything."
Holly reached forward and took his hand. "Artemis, look at me," she said.
Artemis's head didn't turn. "There's nothing I can do," he said, as though guessing what she was about to say. "I have no plan."
"Look at me," Holly said again, with quiet urgency.
Artemis's eyes dipped once before he finally complied. Again she saw in his eyes that flicker of despair, the defeat that was so unlike him.
"Artemis," she said evenly, "do you remember when the Opal from the past followed us here, and you took your plane and lured her off?"
"The Cessna," he specified a bit huffily, eyes migrating away from hers again. His manner reminded her a bit of the stubborn contrariness of a little boy, but she couldn't bring herself to smile.
"Artemis, look at me," she said yet again, and he did. Holly wanted to touch his face to reassure him, but she couldn't have reached, so instead she held his large pale hand between her own. She noticed how cold and clammy his skin felt.
"That time, when you fought Opal, you had to do it alone," she said. "But you won't be alone this time. You don't have to take full responsibility on your own, because you'll have all of us to rely on. Butler, Juliet, Nº1, Foaly—hopefully Mulch—and me. It will be like when we stopped the Zito probe. We'll put a stop to her deranged plans, whatever they are, together."
"Perhaps," Artemis said softly. "Or perhaps everyone will die if I fail to perform my part. If my brain continues to betray me." He hesitated. "The only good I've ever done has been to use my plans to stop the likes of Opal. If I can't even do that, what good am I? Why would anyone want to trust me? Why would anyone stand by me?"
Holly opened her mouth to respond. However, she stopped herself. So many words flashed through her mind, encouragements not unlike the soothing, empty phrases of the Atlantis Complex compendium, and Minerva's words about avenues of attack and counterstrategies. But it was all just white noise. What did Artemis need to hear? What could she do to help save him from himself? She still had no idea.
I can only tell him the truth, she realized.
"We trust you, Artemis," she said simply.
Artemis gave a sharp laugh of disdain and looked away. "I told you. The reliability of my abilities at the moment—"
"—is not what I'm talking about," Holly said firmly. "I said we trust you. No matter what happens, no matter what goes on in your mind, whether you can or can't save us—I know you'll never stop fighting, and you'll do your best. There's never any guarantee in this field of work, no matter how brilliant the commander is—no one knows that better than a Recon officer." She hesitated. "I trust you'll always put in your best effort for us, because I know how much you care about us, Artemis."
Artemis didn't answer at first. He simply stared into her eyes for a long while, as though trying just as hard to figure out what she was thinking as she was him. Finally, he glanced down at his hand in hers, and when he looked back up, he was smiling a little.
"You must forgive me for being so melodramatic."
Holly couldn't help it, and she laughed. "I'd say everyone's entitled to a little melodrama now and again. Look at me, I was nothing but melodrama when we went back in time."
Artemis's smile disappeared, and he eyed her warily.
Holly sighed. "Look, Artemis, we've been avoiding this for months. But I think we need to talk."
"Do we?"
Holly's eyes dropped to their linked hands, and she tightened her grip.
"I'm not taking back what I said," she said at last. "Far as I'm concerned, the past belongs in the past. I'm not mad about Angeline anymore. I haven't been for a long time. I understand, you had to do what you had to do to save your mother. But I feel like you're the one who's not over it."
Artemis gazed down at her for a long minute. "It had to happen the way it did," he said at last. "I've accepted that."
Holly nodded.
"However," he continued softly, causing Holly to look up. "However, I do regret. I regret."
Holly felt a tear sting her eyes, and she closed them. And she knew, she was in the wrong here. This half holding on, half letting go. She had to be willing to let Artemis do what he needed to do, to let him decide. If forgetting the People and her would save him from the Atlantis Complex, she had to let him.
She took a deep, shuddering breath. "Artemis—" she began.
She heard the sound of pounding feet in the hallway outside, and the door banged open.
Butler stood in the open doorway, breathing slightly hard, the Kevlar in his chest paining him as always. He strode on in, Juliet right on his heels.
Holly realized she was still holding Artemis's hand, and she pulled away, embarrassed. However, the bodyguard was far from noticing.
Butler's normally cool, stoic features were about as tense as Holly had ever seen them.
"Angeline—" he grunted. "She's—"
Artemis's demeanor immediately shifted. Suddenly all business, he strode past Holly, meeting the Butlers at the center of the room. "What?" he asked sharply. "What happened?"
"She's gone," Juliet whispered, her blue eyes wide with shock. "She just vanished."
"What?" Artemis snapped. "What do you mean?"
"Well," Juliet began. "I was just lying there on the bed, thinking about this one episode of SmackDown Live. And suddenly, I heard Dom kinda yell something, and when I sat up to see what was going on, Angeline wasn't there."
Artemis turned to Butler.
"I saw it happen," he said in a voice of forced calm. "She was right there, asleep, then she was gone. And there's more—when we tried to rouse Mr. Fowl and the twins, they wouldn't wake. Like they were under a spell."
"Like magic," Juliet confirmed.
"Could it be a warlock, like Nº1?" Butler asked gravely. "A fairy who can send people between dimensions?" He hesitated, then added, "We know she has been using animal brain fluid to enhance her powers to rival those of the warlocks."
Artemis was silent. His eyes lost their focus and Holly knew thoughts were sparking like lightning through his mind. "No," he said softly after a moment. "This is not her doing. At least not directly."
His eyes shot to his wrist, then he extended his arm so that they could see the black face of his watch.
As soon as Holly saw the hands, frozen in place, she felt her stomach plummet.
"Time-stop," she breathed. Only one set of people had the technical know-how and resources to pull off a full-fledged time-stop in this day and age. Which could only mean one thing.
Holly heard the tramp of running boots in the hall and as one they all spun to face the open door. Commander Trouble Kelp appeared in the opening, flanked on either side by heavily armed Retrieval officers in matt-black jumpsuits, armed with LEP-issue laser rifles. He had a tri-barreled blaster in hand, and the look on his face was far from friendly.
Immediately Butler and Juliet closed ranks, forming a protective wall between Artemis and the dozen or so weapons now leveled at his chest.
"So," Trouble said, his mouth set in a hard line. "Didn't make a break for it after all. I'd congratulate you for that, except I know those underdeveloped human legs aren't much good for running, and with your brain, you probably knew you wouldn't get far." His eyes suddenly shifted to Holly. "Clear the way, Captain. We are taking the humans into custody."
Holly was still standing next to Artemis, a little behind Juliet and Butler. She didn't move. "What's going on here, Trubs?" she asked, though she feared she already knew.
"Just step back, Captain. That's an order."
Trouble hadn't even bothered to correct her about the use of his title, so Holly knew he was serious. However, she stood her ground. "You'll have to tell me what's going on first. Sir."
The blood had risen to Trouble's face, and his skin was nearly the same hue as Commander Root's used to turn. A vein pulsed in his forehead. However, he turned his gaze back to Artemis, and raised his weapon a little higher, trying to get a clear shot past Butler's bulk.
"So, it's finally come to this, Fowl," he said in a loud voice of mingled righteous anger and triumph. "Whatever you've been planning, it stops here."
Butler flexed his arms, and gave the commander a menacing look. "Artemis isn't going anywhere," he said evenly.
"You think Artemis is responsible for all this," Holly said incredulously. "You can't be serious. What proof do you have?"
Trouble looked her straight in the eye. "I have all the proof I need."
Holly couldn't believe this was happening. "Something in the goblin's eyes?" she guessed. She glanced at Artemis. He had been expecting this, and she hadn't believed him. Still, she had trouble believing that whatever they had found could really be absolute proof. Sometimes Trouble's gungho attitude was an advantage, but just as often it led him to jump the gun.
"Let me talk to Foaly," she demanded. "I want to hear what he thinks."
Holly expected Trouble to scowl, and shout at her to just shut up and follow orders. However, the corner of Trouble's mouth twitched up in a grim half smile. "All right then, Captain. Whatever it takes to convince you. He's running support for this operation from the shuttle, and he's listening to every word right now."
On cue, the screens scattered about Artemis's study flickered to life one by one, until Foaly's face filled all of them.
Holly opened her mouth to start firing off her questions, but the words died in her throat.
Foaly's normally blasé, sarcastic features were drawn, his shoulders slumped. She'd never seen him look so depressed.
Foaly gazed back at her for a long minute, then at last his golden eyes flickered to Artemis. "Yo, Mud Boy," he said dully. "Looks like the jig is up. You kept it going awhile, but it's over. Don't bother with any fancy escape maneuvers. I set up this stop myself, and you can't get out. And definitely not with a full Retrieval team blocking your way."
Holly was stunned. She just stood where she was, staring at his glum features. She didn't know how she was supposed to react.
Artemis was the first to recover. He composed himself and turned to the Foaly who had appeared on one of the large flatscreens on the wall.
"Clearly, as Holly says, you have extracted from the goblin some piece of evidence that would appear to be definitive proof of my guilt. But after seeing how Opal operates, how can you be so certain? How can you know she doesn't have some hand in this?"
Foaly shook his head slowly. "I double-ran all the tests, every analysis. Opal's good at setting people up, but there are some things even she can't do. I know now it was you, Artemis. It was always you."
Faced with the realization of his worst fears, Artemis was strangely calm. "Foaly, listen to me. You may not want to hear this, but you know as well as I do that you have underestimated Opal in the past. Don't you think this is all a little too convenient? One of your targets attacks this manor, is apprehended, then while you are extracting information from him, he gives you some apparently certain proof of my guilt. Consider this, Foaly. I am the one person to have taken gold from the People and kept it. If I were behind this entire affair, do you really think I would have been this careless? Your instincts must tell you that this is a setup. A distraction to divert the attention of the LEP and get me out of the way."
Foaly's long face was for once devoid of glib sarcasm. His mouth drooped and his expression was somber. "You can't talk your way out of this one, Artemis. I wish as much as anyone it didn't have to be this way."
The image of Foaly's face flipped off, replaced by that of a dark-haired teenager sitting at a restaurant table, a candle flame burning nearby.
They all stared up at the large screen, transfixed. The boy in the image was Artemis, there was no mistake, with his black hair slicked back from a broad forehead, the pale, pointed face, the premature wrinkles about the eyes. His mouth was moving, and though there was no sound, the quality of the image was good enough that his lips would be easy to read for anyone who knew how.
However, those things weren't what caught Holly's attention. As she stared at the image, her gaze was drawn to the eyes. They were two different colors, same as the Artemis she knew, but though the overall expression of his face was pleasant, there was something different. The eyes were hard as flint, cold and ruthless. Those were the eyes of someone who had a purpose in mind, and would never relent from pursuing it, no matter who he had to crush in the process. Those were the eyes she had seen when she had sat on a small, hard cot in a concrete basement cell, and been told that she had been drugged and sold out her own people.
Holly wrenched her gaze away from the screen to look at Artemis next to her. He, too, was staring unblinkingly at the screen. All the color had drained from his face, and he was mouthing something to himself. Holly realized he was reading the lips of the image on screen, and he seemed to grow paler with every word.
"You know what this is?" said Foaly's disembodied voice as the video continued to play. "These are images straight off our goblin friend's retinas. You, telling him all about your plans, welcoming him to join you, giving him instructions to distract the LEP from your activities. That background? I checked it out, and it's a Mud Man restaurant, and I found a perfect match in Dublin from online photographs. They had a few spotty decorations up for Christmas, which we can see with a bit of enhancement. I suppose we know now where you disappeared to a couple months back."
Artemis opened his mouth, but Foaly said, "Don't bother, Mud Boy. I told you, I've already put this image through all the checks. It's a bit hazy, but it's not CGI on a screen, or a hologram. It's you, no mistake. And, as you can see from your eyes, you are clearly not mesmerized."
Artemis's open jaw slowly closed. He could only stare up in stunned silence at the image of his own cold, calculating face cast into sharp relief by shadows.
How? Holly wondered. How did she do it? Surely there was a way for Opal to pull something like this off that Foaly just wasn't thinking of. If it wasn't for Artemis's suspicious disappearance over Christmas, which had happened after Opal the younger had been recaptured and sent back where she came from, then Foaly would probably still hold out even in spite of the evidence. As usual, he was too confident in the deductions of his own brain and his gadgets.
"Just come quietly, Artemis," Foaly said in a tired voice. "Maybe it's not your fault. Maybe this is a new personality of the Atlantis Complex acting up or something. We'll get you back to Argon and run some tests."
Holly opened her mouth to come to Artemis's defense. Foaly was offering Artemis a lifeline, but the suggestion was ludicrous. If Artemis really was operating an elaborate, delicate scheme like this one, there was no way he could do it under the influences of a mental illness, and without his own knowledge. Not for a scheme that had been going on for months, when he was so much of the time under close watch. The only explanation was that this was somehow a setup.
However, Holly hesitated. Her eyes went briefly to Trouble, then to Foaly.
Clearly, someone was behind all this. Someone dangerous. Perhaps Opal, perhaps someone else. However, the LEP was convinced they had their mastermind, and it was clear that no matter what Holly said, they wouldn't be changing their minds.
Artemis couldn't be locked up now. He wouldn't have access to any information on the case, and the Council was very likely to order a mindwipe. He was their only chance to find out what was really going on, and catch the real mastermind.
Holly's eyes flickered to Artemis. We have to get out of here, Mud Boy, she wanted to say. What's the plan?
However, Artemis's face was still turned up toward the screens, his eyes glazed over. He seemed to have gone into a kind of stupor.
Holly mentally cursed.
Her gaze went back to Trouble. He was still standing in the doorway, his blaster out, and several of the officers had entered the room around him, spreading out to form a barrier between the suspects and the exit. It was strange he hadn't taken action yet. Trouble wasn't generally the type to stand around bothering with explanations when there were dangerous criminals to be captured.
Trouble's eyes shifted back to Holly, and for a moment their gazes locked.
It's because of me, Holly realized. Because I'm standing right in the middle of them. He's waiting for me to step away to give the order.
As this fact occurred to her, Holly was suddenly struck with an idea. A terrible, cruel idea.
Holly had had more than her share of being taken captive in her career. From her role-playing days in the Academy to the Fowl Manor siege to bloodthirsty Extinctionists. It was always humiliating—if she were to be taken hostage again right now, she'd probably never live it down. But it might just be Artemis's ticket out of here.
Holly glanced surreptitiously at Butler, hoping against hope that his ability to understand nonverbal communication wouldn't fail him now.
Butler's eyes were focused like a laser on Trouble, not quite looking him in the eye lest the commander try the mesmer, but just on the edge of his peripheral vision, he seemed to notice Holly's look. For an instant he glanced back at her, and his eyes seemed to ask, Are you sure?
Holly gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod. Then her eyes returned to Trouble.
"Step away from these criminals, Captain," Trouble said again. "That's an order."
Holly hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Yes, sir." She started to take a slow step back, and waited for Butler's lightning fast strike.
The LEP didn't typically make deals with criminals. Trouble's general method of negotiation was to batter the perps with threats and insults until they gave up. There was a huge chance this plan would backfire, that they would find themselves in a stalemate that only made Artemis look more guilty than ever. But they had to do something, and Holly hoped that, with what Trouble had told her just last night, his judgment might be clouded.
In the back of her mind, Holly felt a sharp stab of guilt. All Trouble had said was that he respected her and wanted her to give him a chance. He didn't deserve to have those things turned against him like this. But she had no choice—if she was going to save Artemis and get him somewhere he could help sort out what was going on, extreme measures had to be taken. If they were able to find and beat the mastermind, Trouble would probably thank her later.
Holly felt Butler tense beside her, and she readied herself to be seized and feel the cold muzzle of his Sig Sauer between her shoulder blades. However, he hesitated.
Artemis had come out of his daze, and he took in everything at a glance. He drew a deep, shaky breath, then stepped out from behind Butler and Holly. "Very well, Commander. I understand. I see I have no choice but to come with you."
Butler and Holly both forgot what they were doing and turned to stare at him.
"I will prove my innocence while incarcerated, if that is what it takes," Artemis said evenly.
Holly couldn't believe her ears. Artemis had never given up, not at anything. And he had never willingly handed himself over to authorities.
"Artemis," she said slowly. "Do you know what you're saying?"
Artemis gazed back at her. "I believe I do, Holly. There is no point in setting myself up as an enemy of the LEP by fighting or attempting to blackmail my way out. I do not relish the thought of facing Opal again without the LEP's assistance. Especially when I am, how shall we say..." He tapped his temples as he glanced her way. "Impaired."
Holly hesitated, torn. He made a good point. But he had to know that under the LEP's watch, he would be powerless. They wouldn't give him the chance to do anything, either prove his innocence or pursue the real mastermind.
However, Holly felt Butler stand down beside her. The moment had passed. Even if she still wanted to go through with the plan, Butler wouldn't go against Artemis's word.
"Smart decision," Trouble said. "Just don't try anything funny, Fowl, my boys here would just love an excuse to blast you."
Artemis nodded. "I would not be so foolish." He took a single step forward.
At that moment, the screens crackled. "We have a problem," said Foaly's terse voice. "He's headed right for you—moving fast."
"What?" Trouble demanded.
"He got away," Foaly said grimly in a rush. "Came out of the anesthesia ahead of schedule and nicked the key for the vacuum cuffs right off one of the guards. Had them all unconscious before anyone could react. You've got seconds."
"D'Arvit!" swore Trouble. "All you, prepare for—"
He never finished that sentence as, at that moment, the renegade goblin plowed through the squad's ranks, knocking them aside like blocks in a Jenga game. He was clutching a platinum handgun, no doubt stolen off one of his guards. In an instant, before anyone had a chance to react, he had wrenched Trouble's arm behind his back, and pressed the tip of the weapon, glowing a dangerous red, to the back of Trouble's head.
"Bet you wish everyone was issued only my DNA-coded Neutrinos right about now," Foaly muttered into the stunned silence that followed. However, he was as tense as everyone else, and a bead of sweat rolled down his nose.
Trouble didn't miss a beat. "Don't just stand there!" he roared at his officers. "Shoot!"
Many weapons had turned from Artemis and Butler to the new threat, but no one fired. They all just stared at the glowing tip of the Neutrino.
"Don't move," hissed the goblin. His cold yellow eyes flickered to the other officers. "Any of you. Or this elf dies."
"You can't get out, goblin," said Trouble, his usual bravado not reduced in the least with the weapon singing his skin at the back of his cranium. "We have a time-stop up. It's over."
In response, the goblin drew a second weapon from a holster at his hip, also likely appropriated from the guards. He scanned the room.
In the goblin's eyes was a certain look. A look that Holly knew only too well, even if she had never seen it in a goblin before. Not wild or out of control with fear or rage, but considering. Calculating.
His tongue darted out of his mouth and licked one eyeball before he suddenly leveled the second weapon straight at Artemis. "So," he rasped, "you are the human my master considers such a threat. For eliminating you, I will be greatly rewarded."
His clawed finger closed around the trigger and Holly felt her stomach plummet.
However, the goblin had made a mistake. As he moved to take care of Artemis, in his distraction the tip of the first weapon holding Trouble drifted.
Trouble sensed the lapse immediately and, reaching up with his free arm, he slammed the barrel of the Neutrino away from him, wrenching free of the goblin's slack grip and bringing his own weapon around in less than a second.
However, almost as though the goblin had been expecting it, he reacted instantly. He leaped back, away from the weapons all aimed at his torso, raising both weapons to his wall of adversaries.
Holly's hand shot down, going for her own gun—and that was when the world exploded.
Holly's hand flew for her gun still in its holster at her side, but at that moment, the entire sidewall of Artemis's study collapsed inward in a confusion of screaming wood and groaning cables.
Everyone was forced to duck and cover their heads to shield themselves from falling bits of drywall, and a thick dust choked the air. Holly barely avoided being crushed by a falling beam, and an electric lamp on a desk toppled to the floor, exploding in a blinding light just beside her.
The moment of tumult was followed by an odd silence, as the dust began to settle. Holly slowly raised herself up and surveyed her surroundings. The overhead lights from the study had gone out, and broken circuitry running through the walls lay scattered about, throwing up sparks in the partial darkness.
Holly gazed through the dust at the gaping space where the study wall had been a moment before. For a moment, she had a view of the Fowl estate stretching out before them in the early morning darkness, tinged with the blue light of the time-stop. But as she watched, a sleek, black metal surface solidified in its place.
"Problem," said Foaly.
Trouble growled. "No kidding."
The many screens of Artemis's study had gone dark, but miraculously the laptop on his writing desk was untouched, still operating on its own power. Foaly's face was there for a second, then was replaced by an overhead shot of the manor grounds from the vantage point of one of his hovering spy cameras. A cloud of dust was still rising from the side of the hole, but within the dust, they could just make out the form of a strange, alien craft. As they looked on, the invisible craft shimmered into view, visibility racing over its gleaming black surface like inky water. The nose of the craft tapered to a sharp point, and the wings flared outward slightly, like the head of a spear. It was clearly fairy design, but unlike any craft Holly had ever seen.
Trouble cursed. "How did that thing get inside the time-stop?"
Foaly hesitated. "It looks as though it was already waiting inside the boundary. Before we set it up."
"What?" Trouble demanded. "And you're going to tell me you missed it?"
"Stealth ore," Foaly said, grinding his teeth with frustration. "I upgraded all our scanners to automatically look for anomalies, holes in the sky where properties that are supposed to be in the atmosphere aren't, but this ship's transmitting false signals. Even now, far as our computers are concerned, it's not even there."
"A stealth ore shuttle," Holly said quietly, staring at the black metal wall in front of her. "It really is—"
"No," breathed a voice.
Holly turned to find Artemis staring at his laptop screen, eyes fastened to the enormous ship. His mouth hung open slightly, and he had gone as white as a ghost.
"It's impossible," he murmured. "It can't be." He turned around slowly to face the black hull protruding into his study. Like a dazed sleepwalker, he started toward it, one hand stretched out in front of him, as though to test if it were real.
Holly opened her mouth to ask what was going on, but was distracted by the sound of Trouble's commanding voice above the confused shouts of the LEP operatives.
"I don't care what it is, it's not taking off again. Shoot it down! Rip open that hull!"
Holly heard the beep of a dozen weapons as they were switched from a setting meant to stun to one for slicing through solid metal.
Coughing at the heavy dust still lingering in the air, Holly spun back to shout a warning for everyone to get back. However, as she did, she felt her heart stop. Butler and Juliet were still where they had been, well off to the side, but Artemis, still in his trance, had drifted up to the black ship. Right into the line of fire.
"Ar—" Holly started to shout, but already knew instinctively she was too late.
Butler had seen what was happening a moment sooner, and was already in motion, but with his Kevlar chest he couldn't move fast enough.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl, as though she were in a miniature time-stop of her own. After everything we've been through, Holly thought numbly. Everything we've survived. It's all going to end like this.
However, out of the corner of her eye, Holly saw a blur of motion. A flash of green scales, a whipping tail.
In the wake of this new crisis, they had all forgotten about the goblin. Now its powerful form shot like lightning toward Artemis.
Holly's fear immediately went from seeing Artemis perforated with laserbeams to seeing him gutted with sharp claws. How could half the building fall in, and the dumb creature still be thinking about rewards from his master? But that was a goblin for you.
Before Holly could even think about raising her gun, the creature was already upon Artemis. But the goblin didn't slice out his innards or snap his neck. Instead the creature shouldered Artemis hard in the stomach, knocking him to the ground, a second before the round of lasers hit. They burned through the air all around them, slamming into the side of the ship. Two beams pierced the goblin's skin, one skimming the edge of his shoulder, the other going straight through his flank.
The goblin let out a roar of pain that made the officers hesitate for a split second.
Through the thick dust, a brilliant light suddenly shone. A ramp was folding out from the side of the ship, and the white glow from within briefly silhouetted the two figures in the darkness, and blinded everyone in the room.
The goblin was clearly in tremendous pain, its whole body trembling slightly, its tongue lolling out of its mouth. However, the creature took barely a second to refocus. It seized Artemis by the torso and, in an incredible herculean feat of strength, hoisted Artemis up and rushed up the ramp into the craft.
Trouble was the first to recover. "Shoot!" he commanded. "Don't let Fowl get away!"
The officers switched their weapons back to stun, but before they could get off a shot, there was a hiss like steam escaping from a kettle, and a blanket of white smoke poured from the doorway, mingling with the dust and reducing visibility to nearly zero. They hesitated, afraid of hitting each other amidst the smokescreen.
"Don't worry," cried Foaly's voice above the noise, though Holly could no longer see the screen. "They can't escape the time-field."
Holly heard the sound of clanging claws on metal as the goblin carried Artemis onto the shuttle, and the groan of hydraulics as the ramp slowly began to recede, folding back into the side of the ship.
Artemis.
Holly didn't think. Without hesitation, she charged in the direction of the sound. The smoke was starting to clear now, and she could make out the gleaming back surface through the gloom, and the ramp.
With the return of visibility, a few of the officers had started firing again, and a laser burst struck the hull a foot from her head.
"Hold fire!" Trouble roared furiously. "Captain Short, get back here. That is an order. Do not—"
But Holly ignored him. In mid-stride she bunched her muscles and launched herself into the air, her boots finding purchase on the patterned grip of the metal ramp.
And then the door closed with a resounding clang, swallowing Captain Holly Short from sight.
A/N: And, another chapter down. It's nice to get back into this project again after being away for so long; as I've been looking over later chapters and materials I'm seeing a lot more clearly what's working and what doesn't. (I've learned a lot about conciseness since the beginning of this project, even if I still have a lot to learn.)
Very excited for the next Fowl Twins book, and for the movie. I'd really like to get the next chapter out before the movie release, as it's one of my favorite chapters of the entire fanfiction so far. But, we'll see how the work goes, it's still fairly rough.
Thanks so much for reading! If you have a moment, let me know what you thought, and hope to see you in the next one!
Posted 1/14/20