The Arctic Incident (Artemis Fowl 2)

“But my father is so close, Butler. I can’t give up now.”

In spite of herself, Holly was touched by his unwillingness to give up, against all the odds. She was certain that, for once, Artemis wasn’t trying to manipulate anybody. He was simply a boy who missed his father. Maybe her defenses were down, but she felt sorry for him.

“We’re not giving up, Artemis,” she said softly. “We’re regrouping. There’s a difference. We’ll be back. Remember, it’s always darkest before the dawn.”

Artemis looked at her. “What dawn? We’re in the Arctic, remember?”

Operations Booth

Foaly was furious with himself. After all the security encryptions he’d built into his systems, Opal Koboi had simply strolled in here and hijacked the entire network. And what’s more, the LEP had paid her for the job. The centaur had to admire her nerve. It was a brilliantly simple plan. Apply for the upgrade contract, submit the lowest estimate. Get the LEP to give you an access-all-areas chip and then piggyback spy-cams on the local systems. Foaly would be willing to bet that Opal had even billed the LEP for the surveillance equipment.

Foaly pushed a few buttons experimentally. No response. Not that he’d expected any. Doubtless Opal Koboi had everything wired down to the last fiber-optic. Perhaps she was watching him at this very moment. He could just imagine her. Coiled up on a Koboi Hoverboy giggling at the plasma screen. His greatest rival, gloating over his destruction.

Foaly growled. She may have caught him off guard once, but it wouldn’t happen again. He would not go to pieces for Opal Koboi’s entertainment. . . . Then again, maybe he would.

The centaur began to heave theatrical sobs, peeping out between his fingers. Now, if I were a button camera, where would I hide? Somewhere the sweeper wouldn’t check. Foaly glanced at the bug sweeper, a small complex-looking mass of cables and chips attached to the roof. The only place the sweeper didn’t check was inside the sweeper itself.

Now he knew Opal’s vantage point, for all the good it did him. If the camera was piggybacking inside the sweeper, there would be a small blindspot directly below the unit’s titanium casing. The pixie could still see everything of importance. He was still locked out of the computer, and locked in the Operations Booth.

The centaur cradled his head between his hands, the picture of a beaten fairy. In fact he was scanning the booth. What had come in since the Koboi upgrades? There must be some untainted equipment. But there was nothing except junk. A roll of fiber-optic cable. A few conductor clips and a few tools. Nothing useful. Then something winked at him from beneath a workstation. A green light.

Foaly’s heart jumped ten beats per minute. He knew instantly what it was. Artemis Fowl’s laptop computer. Complete with modem and e-mail capability. He willed himself to maintain calm. Opal Koboi couldn’t possibly have bugged it. The device had only come in hours ago. He hadn’t even got around to dismantling it yet.

The centaur clopped across to his toolbox, and in a fit of frustration dumped the contents onto the plasma tiles. He was not so frustrated that he forgot to snag some cable and snips. The next step in his faked breakdown was to flop onto the worktop sobbing uncontrollably. Naturally, he had to flop over the precise spot where Holly had left the laptop. With a casual kick, Foaly slid the computer into the space where the sweeper’s blindspot should be.

So far, so good. Foaly popped the laptop’s lid, and quickly shut off the speakers. Humans would insist on their machines beeping at the most inopportune moments. He allowed one hand to drag across the keyboard and moments later he was in the e-mail program.

Now for the problem. Wireless Internet access is one thing, but access from the center of the earth is quite another. Cradling his head in the crook of one arm, Foaly jimmied one end of a fiber-optic cable into a scope uplink port. The scopes were shrouded trackers concealed on American communications satellites. Now he had an aerial. Let’s hope Mud Boy was switched on.

Koboi Laboratories

Opal Koboi had never had so much fun. The underworld was literally her plaything. She stretched on her Koboi Hoverboy like a contented cat, eyes devouring the chaos on the plasma monitors. The LEP had no chance. It was only a matter of time before the B’wa Kell gained access to Police Plaza, then the city was theirs. Next came Atlantis, then the human world.

Opal floated between screens, soaking up every detail. In the city, goblins flowed from every inch of darkness, armed and thirsty for blood. Softnose slugs ripped chunks from historic edifices. Ordinary fairies barricaded themselves in their houses, praying that the marauding gangs would pass them by. Businesses were looted and torched. Not too much torching, she hoped. Opal Koboi had no desire to be queen of a war zone.

A com-screen opened on the main display. It was Cudgeon on their secure line. And he seemed actually happy. The cold happiness of revenge.

“Briar,” squealed Opal. “This is wonderful. I wish you were here to see it.”

“Soon. I must remain with my troops. After all, because I was the one who unearthed Foaly’s treachery, the Council has reinstated me as commander. How is our prisoner?”

Opal glanced at the Foaly screen.“Disappointing, frankly. I expected some plotting. An escape attempt, at least. But all he does is mope about and throw the odd tantrum.”

Cudgeon’s smile widened. “Suicidal, I expect. In fact I’m certain of it.” Then the recently promoted commander was all business again. “What of the LEP? Any unexpected brainwaves?”

“No. Exactly as you predicted. They are cowering in Police Plaza like tortoises in their shells. Shall I shut off local communications?”

Cudgeon shook his head.“No. They forecast their every move on their so-called secure channels. Keep them open. Just in case.”

Opal Koboi hovered closer to the screen. “Tell me again, Briar. Tell me about the future.”

For a moment, annoyance flashed across Cudgeon’s face. But today, of all days, his good humor could not be suppressed for long.

“The council has been told that Foaly has orchestrated the sabotage from his locked Operations Booth. But you shall miraculously override the centaur’s program and return control of Police Plaza’s DNA cannons to the LEP. Those ridiculous goblins shall be overrun. I shall be the hero of the resistance, and you shall be my princess. Every military contract for the next five hundred years shall belong to Koboi Laboratories.”

Opal’s breath caught in her throat. “And then?”

“And then, together we will rid the earth of these tiresome Mud Men. That, my dear, is the future.”

Arctic Shuttleport

Artemis’s phone rang. Something even he hadn’t anticipated. Artemis stripped off a glove with his teeth, tearing the mobile phone from its Velcro strip.

“Text message,” he said, navigating through the cell phone’s menu. “No one has this number except Butler.” Holly folded her arms. “Obviously, someone does.” Artemis ignored her tone. “It must be Foaly. He’s been monitoring my wireless communications for months. Either he’s using my computer, or he’s found a way to unify our platforms.”

“I see,” said Butler and Root together. Two big lies. Holly was unimpressed by all the jargon. “So what does it say?” Artemis tapped the tiny screen. “See for yourself.” Captain Short took the cell phone, scrolling

through the message. Her face grew longer with each line ...

CMNDR ROOT. TRBLE BELOW. HAVN OVERRN BY GOBLNS. PLICE PLAZA SRROUNDED. CUDGEON

+ OPL KBOI BHND PLOT. NO WPONS R CMMUNICATIONS. DNA CNONS CNTRLLED BY KBOI. I M TRPPED IN OP BTH. CNCL THNKS IM 2 BLM. IF ALIVE PLSE HLP. IF NOT, WRNG NMBR.

Holly swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. “This is not good.” The commander jumped to his feet, grabbing the cell phone. “No,” he declared moments later. “It certainly isn’t.

Cudgeon! All the time it was Cudgeon. Why didn’t I see it? Can we get a message to Foaly?”

Artemis considered it. “No. There’s no network here. I’m surprised we could

even receive.”

“Couldn’t you rig it somehow?”

“Certainly. Just give me six months, some specialized equipment and three miles of steel girder.”

Holly snorted. “Some criminal mastermind you turned out to be.”

Butler placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Shh,” he whispered. “Artemis is thinking.”

Artemis stared deep into the glow cube’s liquid plasma heart.

“We have two options,” he began after a moment. Nobody interrupted, not even Holly. After all it had been Artemis Fowl who devised a way to escape the fairy time field.

“We could get some human aid. No doubt some of Butler’s more dubious acquaintances could be persuaded to help, for a fee of course.”

Root shook his head. “No good.”

“They could be mind-wiped afterward.”

“Sometimes wipes don’t take. The last thing we need is mercenaries with residual memories. Option two?”

“We break into Koboi Laboratories, and return weapons control to the LEP.”

The commander guffawed. “Break into Koboi Laboratories? Are you serious? That entire compound is built on bedrock. There are no windows, and they have blast-resistant walls, and DNA stun cannons. Any unauthorized personnel who come within a hundred yards get blasted right between the pointy ears.”

Butler whistled.“Seems like a whole lot of hardware for an engineering company.”

“I know,” sighed Root. “Koboi Labs had special permits. I signed them myself.”