Disclaimer: The characters, much of the dialogue, and sadly, even the plot are not mine; they all belong to Eoin Colfer.
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Chapter 18: Sweetener
Kronski soon left to get the diamonds, leaving Holly with Butler as a guard. Young Artemis still remained, but opted to stand silently some ways off, beyond where the 'creature' could see him.
Butler looked down unblinkingly at the fairy in the bag, watching to make sure she didn't try to make a break for freedom; although, it was in all likelihood an unnecessary precaution as Holly doubted whether she would have had a ghost of a chance of escape even if they had all conveniently walked out and left her on her own. Her bonds were too tight, her body too weak.
Not that she was prepared to throw in the towel and declare little Artemis the winner; it was simply an honest, fair evaluation of her current position.
As she met his stare, Holly got a good look at the manservant's face for the first time since outside the souk. This time she noticed a certain tightness about his mouth, and a sort of odd flicker in the depths of his dark blue eyes.
Had she been seeing this man for the first time, or even the second time, Holly thought she probably would have lumped him in with Kronski's ilk. Ruthless, cruel, selfish – A typical thug-for-hire like any brutish Mud Man criminal that thought nothing of kidnapping a sentient being and handing that being over to a group that would exterminate it.
But Holly had known Butler for a long time, and she could see in his face even if the signs were only slight that he did not really want to do this. The distaste for what they were doing seemed almost unmistakable now that she was taking the time to notice.
Butler reached into the bag, lifting her out as easily as if she had been a fabric doll, and laid her gently on her side on the cool wood surface of the desk, next to the duffel.
Holly didn't struggle, accepting this sliver of kindness, glad to be finally out of the hot, awful space at last and given an unimpeded view of the room. A reception lounge of some kind by the looks of it, with the front desk she was lying on, the wall of decorations and interesting things to look at or read, and the plush couch a little ways away to give clients a comfortable wait. She was glad to be past being treated like a piece of luggage oblivious to everything, though of course that only meant she would soon be a sideshow freak for an organization run by a lunatic instead.
Butler continued to stand silently over her afterward, and she kept an eye on him, though only through the corner of her vision to be discreet as possible. No need to advertise the fact she still had a bit of fight in her, and was not yet dissolved into a pitiable creature of complete fear and despair as most kidnap victims probably would be by this point.
Young Artemis stood just beyond Butler, but Holly still couldn't see him behind the muscular mass of the giant bodyguard. She wondered if Butler had purposely chosen that particular spot to stand with that in mind, to better shield his charge in case 'the merchandise' tried something.
Idly, Holly found herself wishing that Butler would also remove the uncomfortable, burning strip of tape. However, of course that was out of the question. Butler did feel bad, she knew, but that wouldn't do her a jot of good, even if young Artemis hadn't been standing right there and even if she had been able to somehow communicate to the bodyguard her real situation.
For one thing, Butler's loyalty to Artemis came before everything else, including whether this was right or wrong. No matter what it was, he would always do whatever it took to give his master's schemes the best chance of success. But no doubt Butler would be certain of a trick if she tried to explain the whole 'being from the future' thing anyway.
Holly heard the squeak of wheels as Kronski returned, followed closely by three swarthy-skinned guards pushing a steel trolley loaded with a single heavy sack on the top tier. Based on the clinking sound coming from the bag every time the wheels hit a crack or irregularity in the woodgrain of the floor, it was easy to guess what it contained.
Kronski gestured to the guards to move over to where Holly was, and Artemis and Butler, the bodyguard picking up the Kevlar duffel in one swift movement, approached the diamonds. Butler, Holly noticed, took the time to size up Kronski's guards on the way.
Artemis opened the sack and carefully withdrew a stone. He spent a minute inspecting it, then replaced it in the bag, apparently satisfied that it was genuine.
Butler hefted the sack of diamonds and placed it in the duffel, much the way he had loaded Holly into the same exact bag earlier.
"It has been a pleasure doing business with you, Doctor," said Artemis. The boy turned toward the exit, Butler right behind him.
"Hold on a second, little Ah-temis," said Kronski, frowning slightly. His expression was suspicious as he stared at young Artemis's back.
"Yes, Doctor?" replied Artemis impassively without turning around.
"Forgive me if I'm not quite so trusting as all that." Kronski's voice was just short of antagonistic, hostility pushing against the forced false tones of civility, breaking them down. "You have swindled me out of a hundred thousand euros already, boy. Who's to say you aren't doing it again?"
"You have already verified the creature's authenticity yourself," said Artemis smoothly. "If you are not satisfied, then by all means examine it a second, or even a third time. The thing is all yours now, so you may do as you like. However, I am afraid my associate and I do not have time to waste. So if you will excuse us..."
"She seems real enough," Kronski admitted, ignoring the request of his ten-year-old business partner. "Those ears are certainly not latex. And the shape of its head, its whole body... Still, you understand if a part of me is still wondering about all this, Ah-temis. I am in a very delicate position right now, you understand."
Young Artemis was silent a moment. "Very well," he said finally, turning partway back around to look at Kronski over his shoulder. "I will give you something else other than my word that also supports what I have said. There is more to this creature than simply being non-human, apparently. This race also appears to possess, in addition to all the other talents Butler described earlier, highly advanced technology, more advanced than the human variety in fact, if truth be known."
Artemis gestured wordlessly to Butler, who stepped forward, the muscles around his mouth tight again. Reaching into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, the manservant withdrew the gleaming platinum handgun Holly had stolen from the Tara lockup.
Kronski's eyes bugged behind his violet glasses as soon as he saw it and he took a shaky step forward, trembling pudgy fingers outstretched.
"Butler was forced to disarm this creature earlier as it was carrying this weapon. The object appears to be some kind of stunning device with adjustable power settings."
This just keeps getting better and better, thought Holly grimly as she watched Kronski take the tiny gun delicately and stare down at it in wonder, eyes still wide. Damon Kronski with advanced weaponry. What joy.
Alhough if she thought about it perhaps having her weapon here somewhere in the compound would give her a slightly better chance of escape should she discover a way out out of her bonds. Well, unless of course the Artemis from her time had already given her up as lost and so remote-destructed the inner workings of the device in order to keep little Artemis from getting a chance to study it. In which case, attempting to retrieve the gun would be an effort wasted.
Kronski just continued to stare at the weapon in wonder, turning it over and over to examine every inch of it.
Artemis's lip curled slightly in almost a sneer, but he didn't comment. Instead, he turned to Butler and said, "Well, let us go then. I hope you have fun with your new toys, Doctor."
Kronski waved vaguely at the two to get out as though they were bothering him, not taking his eyes off the Neutrino.
Holly's eyes flickered once again over the room she was in. She guessed again that this foyer was most likely meant for receiving guests, if this was a hotel or some other form of temporary living quarters, as she supposed. She noticed again how she was currently laying on the front desk, like some kind of special delivery FedEx package. However, these details seemed irrelevant next to all else the room contained.
Holly's stomach tightened convulsively into a knot and the sweat that had dried on her skin broke out anew as she realized that almost everything in the room was adorned with the pelt or body of some murdered animal. The fur-upholstered sofa, the bone standing lamp – An entire wall was even covered in photographs which took Holly a moment to realize were each in celebration of some species that had been hunted down and exterminated by the Extinctionists.
Holly wondered if soon her own stuffed body would decorate this very lounge, up with the mounted animal heads staring blankly at her from above the mantel. Or perhaps Kronski would want his five million dollar 'creature' for his own personal quarters.
Holly felt a shiver like an electric current spasm down her spine and she could feel her own sweat freeze against her skin as waves of cold pulsed through her.
She stared at the slowly retreating backs of the ten-year-old Artemis Fowl and Butler, suddenly realizing that, though admittedly young Artemis wasn't much safer a human to be held captive by than a deranged, bloodthirsty Extinctionist, Holly desperately did not want them to leave. She did not want to be left alone with this man and his people.
But though she stared hard at the shoulders of this smaller Artemis, willing him to stop, to somehow have a moment of hesitation and change his mind about all this, he did not once turn around. The door closed behind him and his hulking bodyguard with an ominous slam that rang like the sealing of a prison cell in the large, grotesque room.
That boy really is evil, Holly thought bitterly.
Kronski, meanwhile, took a final look at the weapon, then looked around as though trying to figure out what to do with it for now. Finally, he settled with laying it on top of the trolley.
He turned to Holly, smiling almost affably, though under the circumstances it came across as more of a leer.
"Well, my dear little guest," he said, clapping his hands, "welcome to my humble abode, the site of this year's prestigious Extinctionist conference. I do hope you'll enjoy your stay." He chuckled almost merrily. "Thanks to me, you're about to become world famous."
Holly refused to let her mounting fear show and concentrated on returning his smile with a glare, but by the time she'd summoned the expression, Kronski had turned away.
Holly felt a hand seize her roughly by the scruff of the neck of her abaya and next thing she knew she was staring into the black-brown eyes of one of the guards.
"What is this thing?" the man asked. "A little person?"
One enormous hand took hold of her face and wrenched her neck sharply to one side, seeming to study her ear, with as little hesitation as if his curiosity had been over an inanimate object, like a mannequin.
"No!" Kronski screamed suddenly, making the guard jump as the doctor flew over to them, moving with surprising speed for one of his bulk. When he spoke again, his tone had returned to normal, though a dangerous hint to it still remained.
"This is a very important, very expensive piece of merchandise, the heart of my entire show tomorrow night. So I ask you all to be gentle – very gentle. Imagine this creature is a delicate piece of of china, a piece of china your very life depends on not breaking. Are we understanding one another?"
The guard nodded vigorously as did the other two, though they with less enthusiasm, as though they were more accustomed to their boss's outbursts. The first guard set Holly back on the desk, this time handling her like she was the Rosetta stone and he an archaeologist who had dedicated his life to the study of Egyptology.
Kronski stared down at Holly, his eyes unfocused behind the tinted lenses as he most likely daydreamed about what horrendous things he planned to do with his prize.
He blinked suddenly through, and was instantly more alert. He reached down and ran a thick finger across her cheek, a droplet of sweat clinging to the tip when he pulled it away. He stared at his finger a moment, frowning, the barest hint of disgust on his wide, flabby face. He rubbed the sweat between his fingers, as though he'd just touched something dirty, and his frown shifted to her as though it were somehow her fault she had been sweating bullets all day.
He seemed to think a minute, then nodded once to himself, muttering something to the guards that, despite Holly's sharp sense of hearing, she failed to catch and he gestured to the door.
As the guards swarmed around her, Holly stiffened slightly, but otherwise stayed still, reminding herself that escape was still impossible at the moment. If she was on her own, then it definitely was and would probably continue to be, right up to her execution. But perhaps...
She mentally shook her head slightly. No use thinking about that. If he came, he came, but there would be nothing she could do before that.
However, strangely, one thought rose above even this as she was stuffed (though delicately) into a cabinet-like space below the shelf of the silver trolley and felt herself being trundled along in yet another dark, cramped space that would have been any claustrophobic's nightmare.
I do really hope I'll be able to get this awful tape off before I die.
A/N: Hee, thanks for reviewing everyone! :D It's the first post of the new year. Unfortunately I'm going to be starting school again before too long, and I'm expecting this semester to be a lot more difficult than the last, so posts may not come as fast. And I've been working on other writing projects as well... We'll see how it turns out.
Feel free to leave any comments/questions, I love to hear them. (:
Posted: 1/2/11