Endurance
Chapter three
Disclaimer: I do not own any Artemis Fowl related character / object. They belong to Eoin Colfer.
Tara Shuttle Port, Ireland
"Kelp, Trouble?" Called the rather large and very bossy gnome who was ordering everyone around. He was standing on a block, apparently to give him much needed authority, and reading from a long list.
Trouble raised his hand, "Here."
The gnome gestured to an empty space in the corner of the lounge. "Group four team leader."
Someone wolf whistled as Trouble walked to the corner he'd been allocated. He raised his eyebrows in response.
"Pearl, Fern…?"
Holly was only really listening with one ear, she was wondering what this week had in store. Surely it couldn't be that bad?
"And now," announced the gnome, "The Recon Officers." He shuffled his lists importantly.
"Short, Holly?" The gnome called, looking up from the paper. The silence drifted across the lounge. Everyone stopped chattering. Things like, "Holly Short? Is she here?" echoed around the hall. Everyone knew Holly Short.
Holly raised her hand, "Here."
The gnome nodded, and consulted his list. "Group Four." He motioned her towards Trouble.
Holly groaned inwardly as she walked to the corner, ignoring the comments. Why did she have to get stuck with Trouble?
Group four consisted of Trouble; who was reading a sheet of paper, and two strangers Holly had never seen before. A female, petite, blond pixie and a tall slender male imp.
Apparently the groups were supposed to be small, as no one else joined them. Holly gave a sigh of relief; even if she had to put up with Trouble, she was finally free of Chix Verbil. She was about to say something to her companions, when Trouble pocketed his sheet of paper and led group four, outside to collect their transport.
It was a rather similar jeep to the one Holly had been in that morning, except, this one had blacked out windows.
Holly got into the front passenger seat, the other two in the back, and Trouble in the driving seat. They were on their way.
Group four arrived at their destination two hours later.
The resort seemed luxurious enough. Well, for something funded on government gold anyway. Trouble navigated the jeep around the site, while Holly directed him, using the map they'd collected from reception, when they signed in.
"Next left, and we're there." Holly said, looking up from the map. Trouble pulled up outside a block of white stone apartments. Each one seemed to be identical.
"Right, we're number 4." As the safety belts clicked open, they exited the vehicle. Trouble went around to the back of the car, and opened the boot, exposing four lightweight cases. He lifted them from the car with apparent ease, and lined them up on the gravel floor. He tossed the apartment keys to Holly.
"Go open the door, Short. I'll bring your case."
"I'm quite capable of carrying my own case." She said, "Save the charm for your new-found admirer," she added in a hushed voice. She flicked her head in the direction of the pixie. Before Trouble could comment, she went to open the door.
Holly dropped her case onto the bed, and pulled out a pair of cream combat trousers and a short black T-shirt. After wearing her jeans for countless hours travelling, she was sure they'd shrunk, and thought it was best to change while it was still possible to take them off.
She was just putting the dirty clothes into a compartment in her case, when the pixie, whose name was Sapphire, Holly had found out, walked into the room.
"I'm Sapphire," she said, heaving her own case onto the opposite bed.
"Holly Short."
"Oh, you're the first female Recon officer, right?" Sapphire took a hairbrush from her case, and proceeded to brush her blond hair back into a ponytail.
Holly shoved her case, still full of clothes, under her bed. "Yep."
"So if you're in the Lep, do you know Trouble, the team leader?" Sapphire flicked her ponytail.
"Uh huh, so do you fancy your chances with him?"
Sapphire blushed, "Maybe."
"Well you and all his other adoring fans."
A frown creased Sapphire's forehead. "Does he have a girlfriend then?"
Holly shrugged, "I doubt any girl would want anything to do with him if they actually found out what he's really like." She sat cross-legged on the end of her bed, facing Sapphire.
"Why," enquired Sapphire, "What is he like?"
Holly grinned, "Do you really want to know!" She paused, "Well he's…" She was interrupted, by Trouble himself, who stuck his head around the door.
"I've fixed up an antidote for the time lag; it's in the kitchen when you're ready for some."
Trouble shut the door, leaving Holly and Sapphire to their conversations. Sapphire burst out laughing. "D'you think he heard?"
Holly shrugged again, "No idea, but he knows I don't like him anyway."
Sapphire looked astonished. "Don't you think he's good looking?"
Holly shook her head, "When you've been working with him like I have, his true personality shines through. He's a slimeball, trust me."
10 minutes later, Holly sat at the dining table; a grimace plastered to her face as she hurriedly gulped the clear liquid time lag antidote. It tasted awful. But she had to admit that after drinking it, she didn't feel half as tired.
The three of them, Sapphire, The willowy imp by the name of Robert Pride, and Holly, sat around the table chatting quite happily.
Trouble emerged from the kitchen, holding a plate with three pieces of metal on it. He placed it on the table top, "I'm afraid, you can't have your magic this week, so with your consent, I need to remove it." He plucked a piece of metal, which on closer inspection, turned out to be a sterilised tack.
"May I?" He asked Sapphire. She nodded, and he pricked her thumb sharply and held the tack in place. A blue spark wound, lazily down her arm and into her thumb. When the wound wouldn't heal, the sparks came thicker and faster, and then, as Sapphire's magic ebbed, the sparks thinned out, and stopped. Trouble removed the tack and flicked it expertly into the nearest waste bin.
He proceeded to do the same thing to Robert (the thumb tack thing that is, not throw him into the bin).
Holly rolled her eyes across the table at Sapphire, "Bet you enjoyed that!" She muttered, almost to quiet for Sapphire to hear. But she did, and she flicked at Holly with her finger.
"Right Short, you next." Trouble stood next to Holly's chair.
Holly smiled up at him, cheekily. "Suppose I don't consent?"
Trouble rolled his eyes, "You have to be difficult don't you? Well then I'll drive you straight back to Tara, and you can get the first shuttle back to Haven City."
"Ok." Holly made to stand up. "I didn't want to come anyway."
Trouble pushed her back into her seat. "Just give me your hand Holly."
Holly placed her left hand on the table. Trouble gripped it to the surface with his left hand and pricked her thumb with the right.
Holly felt a slightly strange feeling in her chest, like a fluttering. Probably that foul drink taking its toll, she told herself. She shut her eyes as the magic flowed to her thumb, it made her feel dizzy.
She winced as Trouble removed the tack.
"Be a man, Short."
Holly thought this was absolutely ridiculous. She laughed, Sapphire giggled; she was still trying to impress Trouble despite Holly's warning, and Robert grinned.
"Not a good choice of words!" He told Trouble who laughed.
He took Holly's hand in his own and placed his right index finger over Holly's minuscule pinprick. "Heal." He whispered, and a solitary spark disappeared into the cut, sealing the broken skin.
"Now you lot, enough time wasting, get to the pool, I'll be down in five."
The Indoor Pool, Endurance Complex
Sapphire sat on the edge of the pool, dangling her legs into the water. Holly and Robert were leaning against the wall,
"I'm gonna push her in!" Robert mouthed at Holly, and began stealthily creeping up behind the pixie. But unbeknownst to him, Sapphire could see exactly what he was doing, in the glass wall on the other side of the pool. Just as Robert leant forward to push her, she moved to the left. Robert over balanced, and toppled into the pool.
Holly laughed, "Good entrance, Pride."
Trouble coughed from the doorway, he raised an eyebrow at the spluttering sight of Robert in the pool. "What are you doing?"
Robert's face went a shade of crimson. "Fell in!"
"Hey Trouble, he'd make a good Beetroot, don't you think?" Holly muttered.
Trouble grinned, "Good one, Holly." He paused, "Now I want 25 lengths out of all of you." He checked a stopwatch. "GO!"
Sapphire jumped smartly into the pool, Robert was already in the pool, and Holly dived in elaborately.
Trouble watched them swimming the crawl. Holly was very pretty. He cursed himself inwardly, where the hell had that come from! However pretty Holly was, and she was pretty, devilishly pretty, they just weren't compatible. Holly hated him, he knew that.
Apartment Four, Endurance Complex
That night, after they'd eaten, Holly lay awake in her bed, staring out of the window at the stars. They were amazing; she didn't get to see them enough. Hey, maybe Foaly could fix up a star simulator? And with that bizarre thought she fell into a deep sleep.
A/N: For once, I know exactly what I'm doing! Great huh? Well I guess this is second time round! Keep in mind; this is going to be totally different to Endurance Challenge. Got that?
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