Butler had to hand it to him: Artemis could move quickly when electronics and scientific instruments were involved.

The semi-retired bodyguard sat strapped into the co-pilot seat of the Artemis Interstellar , watching Artemis' fingers move over the spacecraft's various switches and buttons at a blinding speed. Evidently, landing a spacecraft was no idle matter.

"Engines, check. Landing gear, check..." muttered Artemis to nobody in particular.

"Seat belt?" inquired Butler.

Artemis blanched in the pilot seat as he fastened his seatbelt, then he spared a second to throw an appreciative look at the big man next to him. "See? I knew there was a reason I kept you around. Thank you, old friend."

"Don't mention it. I've only been telling you to fasten your seatbelt for, oh, that's right, your entire life." Butler nodded out the viewport to the red planet which took up their entire field of view, and was growing closer by the minute. "By the way, are we supposed to be approaching at this rate? It seems... fast." He usually kept comments that were remotely science-related to himself, for fear of launching Artemis into another long-winded lecture, but Butler judged their imminent safety as worthy of broaching a technical subject.

"Yes, but that's about to change. Prepare for deceleration." Artemis flipped more switches.

After the experience of landing on another planet, Butler decided he would no longer be complaining about turbulent trans-atlantic aeroplane flights.

"We're still in one piece, eh, Butler? I'd call that a rousing success!" An exhilarated Artemis slapped his friend on the back.

"Actually, I think my stomach is somewhere in orbit still."

Artemis ignored this. "We're on another planet, Butler! Look out the viewport! We're seeing things no other man has ever laid their naked eyes on. Isn't it brilliant?"

"Uh-huh. I don't know if it's the blood rushing in my head, or the landscape, but all I see is red."

"Well, yes but..." Then Artemis looked, really looked, for the first time, at the color of the landscape. "Well, I suppose it is a lot of red, when you put it that way." He looked almost mournful for a brief moment, but then it passed. Artemis unstrapped himself from the seat and tentatively stood up in the Martian gravity. "Well, while you sit there contemplating the colour wheel, I'm going to get to work. We have rovers to deploy, base camps to establish, and environment suits to test out. Mars awaits!"

Artemis had been working in the science area of the ship for a while, preparing for his first EVA, when Butler finally joined him, having recovered his bearings.

"Found your Mars legs, have you?" inquired the younger man, not even glancing up from his computers as he calibrated his environment suit.

"I'm getting there. How about you?"

"Fine."

Butler had been around Artemis long enough to know when he was, in fact, not fine. "You sure?"

Artemis gazed out a viewport through which the Martian surface was visible. "Is it strange for a man to land on another planet and the first thing he can think is that the landscape is the same colour as an elf's hair?"

"Not strange for you."

Artemis nodded, sensing some wisdom in this. "I suppose not." He contemplated the landscape some more, then he whispered, "I dearly wish she had said yes to coming along."

"So do I. But Holly's a busy woman, Artemis."

Artemis groaned. "I know. And I know she can't just be expected to up and leave her post for some half-cocked space adventure just because..." Artemis grew hushed again, as if she could hear him if he spoke too loud. "...Just because of the way I feel."

Some hours later, his woes were moved to the back burner, for Artemis Fowl was walking on another planet for the first time. It was not the most unbelievable thing he'd ever done (discovering a hidden race of fairies was probably still at the top of that list), but it was novel and exciting nonetheless. Plus the massive prospects of scientific discovery in the months ahead? The trip was worth it already.

Artemis had scarcely been traversing the landscape for five minutes when a thought occurred to him. "I have to tell Holly about what I'm seeing." If she couldn't be with him on this adventure, the least he could do was call her at odd hours to fill her in. He'd been doing so for months now, and the nice thing was, she didn't even seem to mind so much. Artemis often wondered what, if anything, that signified.

Artemis tuned the old-fashioned radio on his revolutionary patented spacesuit's helmet to his ship's frequency, then relayed his voice through the ship's onboard Superluminal Operational Communications Kit (S.O.C.K.) to call Holly's personal line in Haven.

Perhaps surprisingly, she answered on the first "ring." Also, Holly's voice was clearer than it usually was in these deep space transmissions, a pleasant surprise which Artemis attributed to the Sock being landed stable on Mars as opposed to hurtling through space as it had been for months.

"Hey Artemis, what's up?"

"Oh, the usual. I landed on Mars today. And how've you been?"

"Oh, the usual. I took a call from a Mud Man on Mars."

"Sounds like a great privilege."

"Hmm, I'm not so sure."

"No? Holly, you wound me."

"Well, it's just that I have a feeling this mud man is going to talk about something sciencey while I'm trying to take a walk."

"You have the day off?"

"Mm. So go ahead, tell me. I actually want to hear it. What's Mars like?"

Artemis regaled her for several minutes, telling her of his landing, and describing all that he was seeing as he walked. "But perhaps most promising of all," he finished, "there's this great big cave system in a mountain just a few kilometres away. It looks good for microbes, water, potential Earth settlement site, you name it."

"Nice. So right now, you're walking around in reduced gravity in an airtight environment suit, right?"

"Yes, what of it?"

"Well, just try not to get grabbed by a giant squid this time around."

"Oh, very funny. Honestly, I should be more worried about another of Foaly's probes still being alive out here, going rogue again."

"He assures me there's no danger of that..."

If Holly was still talking, Artemis wasn't listening. Right in front of him, not five metres away, was a little green man materializing out of thin air.

Artemis could scarcely recall being as shocked still as he was now. He found himself powerless to do anything more than stare in stunned silence, no more capable of speaking to Holly than moving a muscle.

Could this really be happening? An alien encounter on the first day? Or had the reminiscing about his giant squid encounter brought on a relapse of Atlantis Complex? He could swear there was a green humanoid in front of him, but on the other hand, he could have sworn less than ten years ago that a mathematical numeral was out to get him.

Artemis tried to engage his scientific brain at present, and take in more information about his situation. Starting with the basics. The apparent green figure was probably a meter tall, covered in tiny honeycomb-like scales that shimmered in the light, though he couldn't say just yet if this was the creature's skin, or some kind of body garment. The head was fairly obviously helmeted, though. It was a featureless smooth black shape that transitioned seamlessly into the honeycomb scales at the point where the collarbone would be on a human, a familiar design concept but not in execution like anything humans had developed.

He had spent countless hours developing scenarios and preparing for possible alien encounters. Ultimately though, out of all the potential communication strategies he had thought up, the only one he could trust himself to execute at the moment was the universal gesture of nonviolence.

Artemis held his hands up.

Realistically, this could easily be an offensive gesture to any given alien species that communicates differently than us, perhaps even translating to "please eat me" if he was unlucky, but it was all he could do.

Then, the green figure said, "Take me to your leader."

Then it... laughed?

Several realizations occurred at once in Artemis' brain. One: It had spoken to him over his own helmet radio. Two: He finally placed those green honeycomb scales as being a design aesthetic in certain special-operations LEP environment suits. Three: It had shimmered into view much like that certain race of people he already knew. And, Four: The voice with which it spoke was unmistakable. Every day of his life since he was twelve, Artemis had either heard that voice or pictured it in his head. In fact, he had just been conversing with that voice less than a minute ago, over his helmet radio...

Artemis gasped out with some effort, "H... Hol... Holly?"

The green figure flipped up the blackout visor on its helmet to reveal the smiling face of one Holly Short in an LEP spacesuit. "So, you followed me all the way to Mars. Are you stalking me, Artemis?"

"Hoh... Wha... Huh?" He could not get words out.

Holly pushed a button on her suit's wrist control, and a highly advanced fairy spacecraft de-cloaked behind her.

"Am I dreaming?" Artemis finally managed.

Holly was very much enjoying having stunned Artemis Fowl. She flashed an even bigger smile. "Nice to know I'm your dream girl, but no. You're not dreaming."

"How-"

"How am I here? Well, you know how your brothers and my star officer keep getting themselves into trouble back on Earth?"

"Yes...?"

"Well, I thought to myself, Say, that reminds me of a certain Fowl who I used to go on adventures with. And, well, I got nostalgic."

"For space travel?"

"For being on an adventure with you, you dolt. So I had Foaly whip up something that could catch up and beat you here. Oh, and he wanted me to tell you it was 'embarrassingly easy' to do."

Artemis knew on some level it was best not to question the miracle of her presence, but he had to comprehend what was going on or he would go crazy. Perhaps he already was. "But. But. But your job! Forget the technical hurdles. What about your responsibilities? All the reasons you gave for not coming with me! You told me you were even considering a run for a Council seat this year!"

Holly waved this away. "Haven's got plenty of the best and brightest boys in green to keep it safe for a little while. And as for the Council seat, well..." Her tone grew more heartfelt. "Honestly? I was climbing the political ladder so intently these past few years, that when I looked down recently, I couldn't see the ground anymore, Artemis. And, well, I missed the ground. I miss the days when it was just you and me against the world."

"...And now, we're out of this world."

"Ha. Nice. So anyways, after all that contemplation of my life choices, I decided to make an impulsive decision. And let me tell you: It felt great. I have to say, it was worth the trip just to see the shock on your face."

"It's certainly the best surprise I've had in a long time." Artemis softened. "My trip has been... somewhat lonely. It's truly wonderful to have you here, Holly."

"Same to you. Oh, it's not just you and me here, by the way." Holly gestured back at her ship. "Mulch tagged along. He wants to be the first dwarf to eat Martian dirt."

Artemis laughed. "Of course he does. Butler's here too, as you know. Oh! I have to radio my ship and tell him you're here!"

Before Artemis could even switch the frequency, Holly barked a laugh. "What, you think he doesn't know? How do you think I got your exact landing time and coordinates to meet you?"

"...I've been betrayed."

Holly smiled at Artemis. "You'll forgive him."

Artemis smiled back. "I already have."