"Sounds simple enough."
"Well, it isn't."
"What do you mean?"
Foaly sighed. "I think you should listen to the tapes, Holly. You obviously missed the biggest part."
Chapter 2
Holly received the file on her communicator.
"When did you leave me?"
That was a rather awkward question, seeing as why Holly had gone daydreaming in the first place. If there was one thing she did not need it was Foaly's annoying horsey "wit".
"I think it was the part where Minerva was shouting something," she lied.
Foaly raised his eyebrows. "I'm sure it was, Holly."
"Start the recording."
"All I'm saying is that—"
"Start it!"
Foaly shook his head and pressed "Start"
M: -cording me, Artemis!
A: Oh, very well. Although it will pain me greatly to miss minutes of your exquisite voice, Minerva.
Despite her best efforts, Holly could not help but bite her lip sharply.
M: I-ah-that is to say, I have come across some extraordinary information.
A: Is that so? And would you be willing to share this extraordinary information with me, perhaps? Or did you call merely to flaunt?
M: Flaunting is not my style, Artemis. You know that. I, unlike you, keep a very low profile.
A: My apologies. Please, proceed.
M: I will visit you . . . ah, secure as this line may be, I will not risk disclosing the exact date. No, all you must do is keep a guest room cleaned and ready.
A: I always keep several guest rooms standing by.
M: Well, then, my presence should not be a problem. Au revoir.
A: Adieu, ma chérie.
Click
M: (slightgasp)
Click
The news was certainly startling, but so was Artemis' farewell. "Adieu, my dear"? What kind of language was that between mere acquaintances?
See, I told you so. He calls her "darling", and she's left breathless. What more proof do you need?
Holly rolled her eyes. Yeah, right. Besides, he called her his dear, not darling. There was a big difference.
You know perfectly well that "chérie" could mean both.
More than likely, it was just a form of endearment between friends. The intellectuals had probably grown closer to each other in the two years she had not contacted Artemis. Two years. Had it really been that long? Two years . . .
"Holly, pay attention! Did you get that?"
"What?"
Foaly snorted impatiently. "Stop wandering off, Holly! You're not going to be of any help with all your thoughts scattered. The complication is that this Paradizo girl will be arriving at some random moment, and even though I'll be able to tell an hour or so before she arrives, that may interrupt a crucial moment in your interrogation."
"So why can't we wait until she comes and then mesmerize her?"
"Artemis Fowl the Second is no fool when it comes to these things, Holly. I wouldn't be surprised if he kept mirrored contact lenses in his eyes and the eyes of anybody in the Manor for the past two years. Minerva is no sloppier. Besides, we don't know what she's up to. It's too risky, too dangerous."
"Can't you figure something out? Hack into whatever it is you usually do?"
Foaly shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, about that. Well, I can't seem to—I mean, the system, ah, well, the system doesn't, ah, doesn't seem to be, ah, opening . . ."
Holly burst into laughter. "You, Foaly? A mere Mud Girl's security beats you? Oh, I can't wait to tell Vinyáya."
"No, Holly! You'll ruin me!" Foaly moaned. "Besides, it's really unlike anything that I've ever seen. It's more sophisticated than even Fowl's. I wonder what she has to hide."
"Or maybe she's just good with computers," Holly suggested innocently.
Foaly narrowed his eyes and continued quickly. "Anyway, I'm going to get you in there shielded and secretly. You'll hide in one of the cellars until this Minerva Paradizo comes. You'll overhear their conversation and I'll be recording it all, of course. A while after she leaves you'll 'arrive'. If that's even necessary after you hear what's supposedly rated above top secret down here."
"Might she know anything that has to do with the irreplaceable magic?"
"Well, I don't really have access to the things rated above top secret. There's supposed to be a cabinet stashed in the LEP building somewhere, but that's just a rumor."
"Hm," Then something else occurred to her. "How long to I have to hide?"
"Well," Foaly cleared his throat uneasily. "I'm not quite sure."
Holly did not like the sound of that. "Foaly..."
"You'll have plenty of rations, of course."
"Nothing fresh, though."
"Yeah. Nothing fresh. No bed either, so you'll have to make do with whatever's in that cellar. Please don't do anything too drastic; you must be able to put it all back in five seconds in case somebody gets too close. But you won't be discovered."
"And why will I not be discovered?"
"Don't worry; I've got your back in that department."
"Fowl's security not nearly as complicated as the girl's, huh?" Holly chortled.
"Not funny, Holly!"
"Oh, please. You finally get outsmarted by sheer computer brilliance of a Mud Girl before we even begin, and you expect me to drop it this quickly?"
Foaly groaned. It's going to be a long, long mission.
He had no idea how right he was.
Holly loved green. It was becoming more and more scarce in recent times, what with the Mud People expanding their greedy, polluted tentacles all over the place. Mountains were damaged, but nonetheless mostly there. Waters were horribly devastated, but if she went deep enough there was still life present. Nothing compared to its former glory, but still there. Underground was protected by the People, and she expected to be able to admire the moon for a couple decades more at least.
But the land, the place where humans were originally put, the place they had explored first, cultivated first, killed first—that particular piece of natural beauty was all but gone.
She sighed and swooped towards Fowl Manor. Circling it twice high above in the clouds, she banked and landed on a sheltered wood nearby. Taking off and hiding her gear, she took only a small satchel which contained three months' worth of rations, several simple clip-on surveillance bugs, and a pair of Impromptu Wings. The IW was a prototype that Foaly had donated; they were supposed to be able to unfold and be ready for flight at a moment's notice. In truth they looked like a heap of hay with a few metallic glints here and there. Holly did not intend to try to use them until she was desperate, hopeless, and all but dead.
As she approached the Manor, shielded, however, she saw something that sent her running back to her equipment and flying full-speed to LEP Headquarters.
The girl was just arriving. But that wasn't all. Where Minerva Paradizo walked, a trail of golden sparkles glittered in the air.
Magic.