Goddess Timtam: *makes small sputtering noises while choking on carrot juice* Ohmygoodnessohmygoodnessohmy- you lucky devil. You lucky, lucky devil. I am unbelievably jealous. Vimes rocks! Same with Vetinari! Same with Angua! Same with Carrot! Same with Nobby! Same with every member of the Watch except for Colon because he's racist, sexist, and pretty much everything else ending in -ist and except for Corporal Visit because he's annoying! Same with every member of UU! Same with Maladict and Shufty!

Happy [insert holiday here]!

Annabeth was pacing back and forth across the small room Artemis had let them use to formulate an escape plan. She paused for a moment, long enough to watch Leo fiddle with a security camera in the corner by the bookshelf, and then resumed her pacing.

"If we can get some big pieces of wood to use as shields, the arrows aren't a problem. The problem is the Mare, possibly Mares, of Diomedes." Suddenly, she stopped. "Percy, can you control the Mares long enough for us to get to the nearest town?"

Her boyfriend frowned.

"I don't think so. I've never been able to control horses, just talk to them."

Annabeth sagged.

"Oh. Too bad. Do you think we could outrun the Mare to the nearest town?"

"Definitely not."

"You're probably right. Hmm... I wonder. Nico, could you shadow-travel us to the nearest town?"

Nico laid down the book he had been examining critically.

"I don't think so. Frankly, shadow traveling just me is a piece of cake, same with two people, or even three, but anymore than five I don't think I could do. I could call Mrs. O'Leary, but I think our reluctant hosts might take exception to a giant dog slobbering over everything."

"Yeah," said Annabeth, "That might make them more than a little curious."

"Then do you think we could drive to the nearest town?" asked Percy.

Nico laughed humorlessly.

"With what? The taxi?"

"Yes."

"That taxi is in desperate need of three new tires."

"Oh."

"Annabeth," said Jason tentatively, "Do you think Tempest would be a match for the Mare?"

Annabeth tilted her head.

"Maybe. Actually, with you on him, yes. Get him to the back of the garden. " She stood up excitedly. "That's it, Jason! And the nice thing about Tempest is, unlike Mrs. O'Leary, he can be inconspicuous when he wants to be!"

"I can go on Blackjack as well," said Percy, but Annabeth shook her head.

"I doubt you'd be able to summon him all the way from North America. Sorry, Percy. It'll have to be only Jason."

"Now all we have to do is think up a tale to feed our hosts," said Nico.

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"There's something odd about them, Butler. I don't know what it is. But it's there."

Butler nodded his huge head.

"I agree. It's nothing particular, just a sense. And I know to trust my senses."

"Yes," said Artemis quietly. He frowned and steepled his fingers, leaning against the ebony desk. "Butler?" he said slowly, after a moment's thought. The bodyguard turned to face him. "Remind me why we agreed to let them stay here a few hours."

Butler knit his brow.

"They... fell through the ground. Not their fault," he said thickly.

"And since when do we have easily entered cellars?"

"Since Mulch Diggums first set foot on the property, but I get your point."

"Therefore...?"

Butler's eyes narrowed.

"Get me the guest room surveillance camera on Computer 9," commanded Artemis, "I want to know what they're up to."

Butler switched computers, typed in a few strands of code, and then muttered:

"It's blocked."

Artemis nodded sagely.

"Either there's a bug in the system, which I highly doubt, seeing as I designed it, or it's been tampered with. Pass it to me."

Artemis' fingers flew over the silver keyboard, darting left and right. He chuckled softly.

"Oh, this is clever. Very clever. Whoever did this knows quite a bit about programming."

"Can you break the block?"

"Butler, when I say it is clever, that is exactly what I mean. Clever. Not flawless. Nothing is flawless. And the technology would have to be almost completely flawless to pose a major problem to me."

A few more minutes of tapping, interspersed with bouts of silence as Artemis puzzledthrough the code.

"This is a very odd block," he said finally, "It's like nothing I've seen before. It's built structurally. When I break through one string of code, another takes its place."

"Can you crack it?" asked Butler.

"Oh, yes. Of course. I already have, I set my own bug in the block to stop the code rotation. I'm just waiting for it to take effect. But it's well-built. I'm glad I observed it as I went; I should be able to recreate it later." He sighed. "Ah, there we go."

Butler peered at the screen.

"What under the earth is he doing?" he asked.

"Maybe he thinks meditation really does bring answers," said Artemis airily.

"I've seen real meditation, and it actually does bring answers occasionally, but whether it does or not is beside the point. That's not meditation."

The pair stared until the blond boy came out of what appeared to be a sort of trance.

"Interesting..." said Artemis.

On the screen, the blond boy nodded briefly at the others, easing himself off the wooden floor. His voice, perfectly recorded by the cutting-edge cameras Artemis employed, sounded loudly around the small office.

"He'll be on the grounds, at the back of the house, in ten minutes. That should give us time to think up some reason for our departure."

The curly haired boy with the impish face glanced up suddenly at the camera, a suspicious look on his face. The last thing Artemis and Butler saw was a hand reaching toward them.

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"Guys?" Leo said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Yes?" asked Annabeth.

"We've been eavesdropped on."

"What?" said Annabeth, surprised, "How? Didn't you do something to the camera?"

"Yeah..." Leo squirmed uncomfortably, throwing his pliers up and then catching them. "But as much as I hate to say it, I think someone managed to get through my bug. I just disabled the camera completely. It's broken now. I didn't want to ruin such a high-tech machine, but..." Pliers up, pliers down.

"You did what you had to, Leo. At least now they can't spy on us. Then again, we have about forty-five seconds before they come barging down here asking what we were doing and why we cared about them watching."

The pliers hit the bed, their tormentor distracted.

"Shoot!" Leo leaned back, slapping himself. "I should have realized!"

Percy grimaced.

"Doesn't matter now. Let's get moving."

"Good idea."

Annabeth pushed herself off the bed and swung the door open.

"Let's get out of here."