Chapter 4

Artemis jolted awake as the shuttle rocked to a stop. Holly was still unconscious, and she was looking incredibly pale. She did feel a little warmer, though whether that was because he was now freezing too he wasn't sure. He knelt up in front of Holly facing the door. He couldn't let the Opals hurt her.

Right on cue, the door opened and the two pixies walked in to the room. They took in his protective pose, and began to giggle. They may not look the same thought Artemis, but they have identically irritating laughs.

"Have you thought any more about our offer, Mudman?" asked past Opal.

"It wasn't an offer so much as an ultimatum." he said coldly. The pixies giggled again.

"So you'll help us?"

"You leave me precious little choice." His tone could have frozen the pacific ocean. "Now, wake her up."

Past Opal walked forwards with a needle in her hand, but Present Opal put her arm out to stop her.

"No, wait. You don't know Fowl like I do. How do we know we can trust you?"

Artemis laughed humourlessly. "You're holding the life of one of my closest friends over my head. What do you think I'm going to do to betray you?"

Present Opal dropped her arm, and her younger counterpart injected the clear hypodermic into Holly's neck. After a couple of seconds, the elf stirred and coughed. Artemis let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Holly was going to be alright.

Past Opal gestured to the recovering elf on the floor.

"Well, Mudman, are you going to carry her? Or are you just going to leave her there?"

Artemis swore under his breath, but lifted the captain and held her in his arms. She wasn't heavy as such, but she was a deadweight, and the only form of exercise Artemis had done over the past few months had been horse riding and running for his life. Neither of these activities built up his biceps much, so he was struggling to hold Holly's weight. I won't drop her he thought furiously. At least, not in front of Opal.

The Opals made him walk between them down a series of corridors roughly hewn from rock. They were underground somewhere, though where Artemis had no clue. It had to be somewhere the Opals felt secure, somewhere safe from detection…

They entered a dust covered corridor, and suddenly Artemis knew where they were.

"This is Koboi Labs!"

"Well done, Fowl. I'd be more impressed if you didn't have an IQ that nearly rivalled mine." Present Opal replied bitterly. Why she was bitter was anyone's guess, maybe there was some dissent between the elder and younger Opals. Artemis hoped so - it would make it much easier for him and Holly to escape.

Past Opal strutted down a corridor that looked even less used than the rest of the building. Artemis's arms were burning - he had to put Holly down soon. Thankfully, Past Opal opened a door and told him to enter. It was a prison room, complete with metal bed frame and pitifully thin mattress. He waited for Opal to slam the door behind him, then lowered Holly onto the bed, moaning. His arms burned.

Holly moaned and opened her eyes groggily.

"Arty?"

Artemis's stomach gave a lurch. She hadn't called him that since they'd travelled back on time together and she'd been changed into a teenager. Was she actually talking to him, or was she rambling?

Opal's voice over the intercom broke his train of thought.

"We've upheld our part of the bargain, Mudman. It's time for you to do your part."

"You haven't told me what you actually want me to do."

"Simple." came the reply. "You are going to destroy Haven for us."

********************************************************

Butler parked the Bentley under a tree and strode into the fairy fort. Several fairies had been complaining about the lack of a shuttle back to Haven (Trouble had reserved the only shuttle for him and Butler to go underground, and there was a backlog back at Haven, so no fresh shuttles had made their way up E1 in a couple of hours), but they suddenly decided they had bigger worries, and ran for the passenger lounge to get out of the giant Eurasian's way.

Within a relatively short amount of time, only Butler and Trouble Kelp were left in the room. Butler knelt down and held out a hand to Kelp, who shook it gingerly. The giant Mudman was supposed to be a friend, but that didn't make him any less intimidating.

"Butler."

"Commander. Shall we?"

The two didn't speak again until they were in the shuttle and descending towards Haven. Butler was pleasantly surprised - when Holly wasn't flying it, the shuttle could actually move quite slowly and without acrobatics. Trouble set the autopilot and turned to Butler.

"So what happened back at Fowl Manor?"

Butler told him about both Opals turning up and the kidnapping. He slapped the dash, gritting his teeth.

"I send her topside to get her out of danger…" he muttered. Butler got the impression that he wasn't supposed to have heard that comment, so changed the topic.

"How did Opal escape?"

"Huh? Opal broke her out."

Butler could tell this tale was going to get confusing.

"She went in when the guards were changing over, and when they realised what was going on and tried to call for reinforcements, all the officers were in Haven, trying to clear up the mess those three sprites made. So, now we have twelve men all off with various injuries - it was a miracle none of them were killed - and to top it all off Opal and Opal have Holly. And Artemis."

Something told Butler that Artemis wasn't Trouble's top priority, but he could hardly hold that against the elf. Holly was his officer, after all.

************************************************

"What?" Artemis couldn't believe it. "You want me to take down Haven? Are you still on about that? It didn't work with the B'Wa Kell uprising, it didn't work with the Zito Probe, what makes you think it's going to work now?"

"Are you refusing to help us, Fowl?"

Artemis had a sudden vision of lightning bolts flying past his head as he rode a quagga out of a secret lab, and shuddered.

"No, I'm merely pointing out flaws in your plan."

When Opal spoke again, he could hear the glee in her words.

"This plan has no flaws. This plan has a bio-bomb."