Right! Its the Friday before school starts so i figured i might as well finish up this chapter before i go to school and drown in homework. So that may be the reason why it will take so long with chapter 5, and not because I type with three fingers! I'm getting along with it, thank you very much. And another reason why I wanted to publish this chapter. I want you to feel the suspense and the twist in this chapter.(Whahahaha!) Wow. I must really stop giving you guys spoilers.
One more thing. this is the disclaimer for dummies(or those who don't really get it. Never mind. I'm just as clueless).Me (Captain Juliet) no own Artemis Fowl. How does that sound? And now, my story. So you can see if my spoilers come true.
Chapter 4: One step behind
Fowl Manor, Dublin, Ireland
"Get them out of here. Artemis!" Juliet shrieked, punching the air to show her frustration. Butler winced as his sister shouted while Artemis gathered his younger brothers and got them out of the kitchen.
His fairy phone-ring buzzed gently. It's Holly, Artemis thought, but it was Foaly instead. This does not look good, he thought, but then again he may be asking me for advice, which I am more than glad to comply.
"Artemis," Foaly said his tone of voice less flippant than usual. "Artemis. Did you manage to find out who is behind this trolls attack?"
"I need more clues, Foaly. Is Captain Short alright?" Artemis asked as the twins ran ahead.
Foaly snorted. "I would answer that if I knew."
"What?" Artemis did not know he had shouted until he heard his voice echoing down the corridors. The twins disappeared round a corner but Artemis did not seem to notice."Foaly, explain."
"See here, Mud genius. Holly goes on a field mission and I still have contact with her. She locates two trolls ahead of her but the thing is there is no trail of destruction anywhere announcing their presence. She gets within ten meters of a troll and I lose the connection."
Artemis hurried to his study. "Equipment malfunctions? Listen, Foaly, I want you to send me the feed from Holly's helmet before you lost her to my laptop."
Foaly snorted again, just that this one was slightly annoyed. "I'm telling you, it isn't any malfunction anywhere. You'll see for yourself."
Isn't that why you're sending me the files? Artemis thought with some exasperation. He wanted to say it out loud but thought better of it. Holly is in danger, he told himself. This is no time for horseplay. Pardon the pun.
The files came up in a moment. There was Holly, flying from Tara. "That is a new helmet, I presume." Artemis noted the extra screen showing Holly's face. "There's another camera in the helmet."
"My new design," Foaly said a little smugly. "Did I tell you that?"
"You just did," Artemis muttered and fast-forwarded the clip where she located the trolls, not before he caught Foaly's little joke with Holly. "Small talk during a mission? Seriously?" he said but secretly shared a quiet chuckle.
"Seriously. So what have you got?"
Artemis ran the clip until it ended with a screen of black and white. "Foaly," he said. "By any chance can we run thermal scans in the clip?"
"We're not that low-tech. It hurts me just to think you regard me so lowly."
"Thermal scans, Foaly. Now. That was supposed to be a rhetorical question, as you well know," Artemis said. He could not resist a jibe, though, "And if you really need to know, yes, I do regard you so lowly."
Thermal scans were sent to Artemis's laptop without any complaints, albeit some undignified whinnies. One of the figures that showed up in the thermals was half the size of a troll, but it was possible. But the other… hardly made it to a baby troll's standards. "You sure there were two trolls?"
"Positive. A hundred percent."
Artemis was silent as he digested this piece of information. "Foaly, can you pick up any other fields? I think I'm on to something."
"I know. There can't possibly be two trolls." Artemis heard more typing. "Trolls don't emit some kind of field with a ten meter radius."
"Can you identify the signal?" Artemis wanted an immediate result so as not to interrupt his train of thought and added, "And that is a rhetorical question."
"I know a rhetorical question when I hear one, okay? You don't have to tell me. And the answer to that is no, I can't."
"I said it was a rhetorical question."
"I can't identify the signal. Take it or leave it."
Artemis thought about it for a while. "You can't identify it because it foxed your sensors somehow. Now, who has done that twice before?"
Foaly paused before saying, "Was that a rhetorical question?"
"I thought you knew one when you heard one."
They were both silent. Both knew the answer to this. Both did not want to say it out as both did not want to have anything to do with her anymore.
The pixie with the golden touch. The founder of Koboi labs.
Opal Koboi.
"But it started before she escaped from prison," Foaly said quietly.
"Well, it was very possible that she had outside men to do the job. Outside pixies, to be precise."
"Mervall and Descant Brill," Foaly said.
"Precisely. And this kind of scheme must have been carefully planned to near perfection. I have a feeling we are somewhere one step away from Opal."
"Maybe two," said Foaly.
"Artemis?"
Artemis turned around to see who had called him. Butler was at the door. "Did you see the twins?"
"Sure. They should be playing outside where they usually would. If not then try their rooms, which I imagine can be a mess," was Artemis's prompt reply.
"I've checked everywhere. So has Juliet. They aren't anywhere in the manor."
Okies! Waiting in suspense, are you? Okay, so maybe not, but who likes my rhetorical question joke? I know I do. See why i like this chapter? Now, to finish up some last minute homework...