Chapter 4

Foaly was busy in ops looking up Artemis' and Gland's files when Holly and Plank came in.

"How's our boy?" Holly asked, approaching Foaly. Her eyebrows rose. "Well, a Boy Scout could do worse, considering."

"Not bad," agreed Foaly. "Only three illegal transactions in the past six months. Think there's hope?"

Holly snorted cynically. "I couldn't agree more," said a gruff voice from behind them. Root came up beside Holly and grunted. "Huh. Corporal, I hope you're taking notes."

Holly glanced back at the young elf and suppressed a smile. Plank was busy gazing around the computer lab with the expression of a young fairy going for her very first surface trip. For a cadet, anything that had to do with real police work was bound to be an exciting experience. "You ever seen a video of this kid, Corporal?"

Plank snapped her attention back to her superiors. "No sir."

"Commander, seeing as she's going to be dealing with Fowl in the future, might I suggest..."

"I have a better idea," Root interrupted. "Foaly, can you contact Arty-boy for us?"

Foaly was astounded. "Can I contact him?" he exclaimed, a highly indignant expression on his face. "Can a stink-worm shoot a seed through its..."

"I thought so," Root said hurriedly before Foaly could complete his questionable analogy. "Just give me the condensed version on Gland before I get sick."

"Fine, Commander," Foaly said, still sounding miffed as he pulled up the appropriate file. "Here. Quiet as Frond's grave. Is that condensed enough for you?"

"One, any more offensive remarks and you're fired," Root growled, mostly for the benefit of Corporal Plank. "And two, don't give me that load of dwarf-dung. Plank saw Gland with the troll. You're telling me that's the only activity from him since the robbery two years ago?"

"Commander, I might be offensive, but I'm still extremely professional. I would tell you if Gland had done something we'd picked up on."

"So, your computer doohicky might have missed something."

Foaly blew out a long, frustrated breath. "Commander..."

"Possibly, right, Foaly?" Holly interjected before the conversation could escalate into a verbal war. "Gland's slippery. We can't get everything."

"Theoretically," Foaly conceded reluctantly. "We have a few illegal shuttle trips recorded that never got pinned on anybody. Those could be him. The crime pattern indicates the same person or party for twelve separate jaunts over eighteen months. I'm willing to speculate that Gland could be involved. It fits his modus operandi."

"Good enough for me," Root said. "Anything else we can speculate on?"

"Gland's last robbery was at a drug-manufacturing company. Huge amounts of specific compounds lifted. Plank mentioned a spray used on the troll. Did Gland commit the robbery with an anti-troll chemical in mind? Was he preparing for the twelve trips to the surface? Can't say for sure, but I'd be willing to bet my new wing design that he has something to do with it."

Plank couldn't help herself. "Sir, you have a new wing design?"

"Yeah, it's a beaut," Foaly bragged, immediately engaged. "I'm hoping to get a patent on it within the week, but don't expect to be flying with it for another year."

"By that time you should be initiated," Holly said to Plank. "You might start your career with the newest wing design out there. Boy, I wish I'd had wings like those when I was initiated."

"Boy, I wish we'd had a lot of things when you were initiated," Root said snappishly, "including shock collars. Plank, that can still be arranged for you, so shut your mouth. Foaly, what about Fowl? Is he involved with Gland?"

"Impossible to know. None of his illegal transactions indicate involvement with fairy...Whoa, hold up."

"What?" asked Root immediately, although he knew in his gut what Foaly was going to say.

He was right. "I just accessed the feed from yesterday's surveillance. Seems our boy went to London with Butler. Oh, gods."

Root had absolutely no reserves of patience left. "Foaly, if you don't tell me what's going on, I swear..."

"All right, Commander, hold on to your remaining hair. The computer is hacking the security tape from a private conference Artemis attended in London. Look at the list of words on the left-hand side."

They looked. The list of words was steady growing longer as the computer finished hacking the tape.

Foaly pressed a button to enlarge the completed list. "These are all words mentioned in the conference pertaining to fairy life." He shook his head in distress. "One hundred seventy-eight. Mostly fairy, sprite, and troll. Eleven hits for gland. That could just be the body part, but given the circumstances..."

A grim air settled over the room. The implications were obvious. But Holly couldn't let herself believe that they were true.

"Commander, Artemis can't be involved with Gland," Holly said emphatically. "He promised he wouldn't breach our terms."

"Captain, since when are you an idealist?" Root snapped, angrily crushing his cigar on the console. "Fowl's gone and stabbed us in the back. Period."

The words hit Holly like a fist to the gut. "Impossible," she protested weakly. "He was changing. We were friends."

"Were being the operative word here." Root jabbed a finger at the screen. "Foaly, contact Fowl. Tell him we need his help and that we're willing to re-establish communications. Don't let him in on any of our suspicions. Knowing Fowl, we could haul him in by force but he'd just be tight-lipped. Maybe we can find out what he's up to if we pretend not to know."

Foaly nodded. "Will do, sir."

Root turned to leave. As if on second thought he stopped. "Short, you don't have to do this mission. I understand if you feel too close to the subject."

Holly hardly knew what to think. All she knew was that Artemis couldn't be guilty. Aware that she was being unobjective, she said, "No, sir, I want this mission. If he's really regressing, then it's my fault that he wasn't mind-wiped. If he's innocent, I might be the only person who can find out."

"You might also be the only person who can be fooled," Root warned. "Notwithstanding, I'll trust your recommendation. Plank, you still need your surface hours?"

"Yessir," she said, eyes sparkling. "Twelve, sir."

"Then you're going too. Might as well get acquainted with one of the most notorious criminal masterminds of this half of history. Captain Short, you will be her supervising officer on the mission. Not a word to anyone about this." With that he left the room.