Artemis Fowl. The Arctic Incident

Butler had relieved LEPretrieval One of their weaponry during the previous year’s siege.

Artemis nodded. ‘Good idea, but remove the nuclear batteries and put the blasters in a bag with some old games and books. We can pretend they’re toys if we’re captured.’

‘Yes, sir. Good thinking.’

The Bentley Red Label crunched up the driveway, activating the ground’s security lights. There were several lamps on in the main house.

These were on randomly alternating timers.

Butler undid his seat belt, stepping lithely from the Bentley.

‘You need anything special, Artemis?’

Artemis nodded. ‘Grab some caviar from the kitchen. You wouldn’t believe the muck they feed us in Bartleby’s for ten thousand a term.’

Butler smiled again. A teenager asking for caviar. He’d never get used to it.

The smile withered on his lips halfway to the recently remodelled entrance. A shiver passed across his heart. He knew that feeling well. His mother used to say that someone had just walked over his grave. A sixth sense. Gut instinct. There was peril somewhere. Invisible, but here nevertheless.

Holly spotted the headlights raking the sky from over a mile away. Optix were no good from this vantage point. Even when the automobile’s windscreen came into view, the glass was tinted and the shadows beyond were deep. She felt her heart rate increase at the sight of Fowl’s car.

The Bentley wound along the avenue, flickering between the rows of willow and horse chestnut. Holly ducked instinctively, though she was completely shielded from human eyes. You couldn’t be certain with Artemis

Fowl’s manservant. Last year Artemis had cannibalized a fairy helmet, constructing an eyepiece that allowed Butler to spot and neutralize an entire crack squad of LEPretrieval commandos. It was hardly likely that he was wearing the lens at the moment but, as Trouble Kelp and his boys had learned, it didn’t pay to underestimate Artemis or his manservant.

Holly set the Neutrino to slightly above the recommended stun setting.

A couple of Butler’s brain cells might get fried, but she wasn’t about to lose any sleep over it.

The car swung into the driveway, crunching across the gravel. Butler climbed out. Holly felt her back teeth grinding. Once upon a time, she had saved his life, healing him after a mortal encounter with a troll. She wasn’t sure if she’d do it again.

Holding her breath, LEPrecon Captain Holly Short set the DoubleDex to slow descent. She dropped soundlessly, skimming past the storeys, and aimed her weapon at Butler’s chest. Now there was a target a sun- blinded dwarf couldn’t miss.

The human couldn’t have detected her presence. Not possible. Yet something made him pause. He stopped and sniffed the air. The Mud Man was like a dog. No, not a dog, a wolf. A wolf with a big handgun.

Holly focused her helmet lens on the weapon, sending a photo to her computer database. Moments later, a hi-res rotating 3D image of the gun appeared in the corner of her visor.

‘Sig Sauer,’ said a recorded byte of Foaly’s voice. ‘Nine millimetre.

Thirteen in the magazine. Big bullets. One of these hits you and it could blow your head off; something even the magic can’t fix. Other than that you should be all right, presuming you remembered to wear the regulation above-ground micro-fibre jumpsuit recently patented by me. Then again, being a Recon jock, you probably didn’t.’

Holly scowled. Foaly was all the more annoying when he was right. She had jumped on the first available shuttle without even bothering to change into an above-ground suit.

Holly’s eyes were level with Butler’s now, yet she was still hovering over a metre from the ground. She released the visor seals, wincing at the pneumatic hiss.

Butler heard the escaping gas, swinging the Sig Sauer towards the source.

‘Fairy,’ he said. ‘I know you’re there. Unshield or I start shooting.’

This was not exactly the tactical advantage Holly had in mind. Her visor was up, and the manservant’s finger was creaking on his pistol’s hair trigger.

She took a deep breath and shut down her shield.

‘Hello, Butler,’ she said evenly.

Butler cocked the Sig Sauer. ‘Hello, Captain. Come down slowly, and don’t try any of your. ’

‘Put your gun away,’ said Holly, her voice layered with the hypnotic mesmer.

Butler fought it, the gun barrel shaking erratically.

‘Put it down, Butler. Don’t make me fry your brain.’

A vein pulsed in Butler’s eyelid.

Unusual, thought Holly. I’ve never seen that before.

‘Don’t fight me, Mud Man. Give in to it.’

Butler opened his mouth to speak. To warn Artemis. She pushed harder, the magic cascading around the human’s head.

‘I said put it down!’

A bead of sweat ran down the bodyguard’s cheek.

‘PUT IT DOWN!’

And Butler did, gradually and grudgingly.

Holly smiled. ‘Good, Mud Man. Now, back to the car and act as though nothing’s wrong.’

The manservant’s legs obeyed, ignoring the signals from his own brain.

Holly buzzed up her shield. She was going to enjoy this.

Artemis was composing an e-mail on his laptop.

Dear Principal Guiney

…it read…

Because of your counsellor’s tactless interrogation of my little Arty, I have taken him out of school for a course of therapy sessions with real professionals in the Mont Gaspard Clinic in Switzerland. I am considering legal action. Do not attempt to contact me as that would only serve to irritate me further and, when irritated, I generally call my attorneys.

Sincerely,

Angeline Fowl

Artemis sent the message, allowing himself the luxury of a small grin. It would have been nice to watch Principal Guiney’s expression when he read the electronic letter. Unfortunately, the button camera he’d planted in the headmaster’s office could only be accessed within a mile radius.

Butler opened the driver’s door and, after a moment, slipped into the seat.

Artemis folded his phone into its wallet. ‘Captain Short, I presume. Why don’t you stop vibrating and settle into the visible spectrum?’

Holly speckled into view. There was a gleaming gun in her hand. Guess where it was pointed.

‘Really, Holly, is that necessary?’

Holly snorted. ‘Well, let’s see. Kidnapping, actual bodily harm, extortion,

conspiracy to commit murder. I’d say it’s necessary.’

‘Please, Captain Short,’ said Artemis, with a smile, ‘I was young and selfish. Believe it or not, I do harbour some doubts over that particular venture.’

‘Not enough doubts to return the gold?’

‘No,’ admitted Artemis. ‘Not quite.’

‘How did you know I was here?’

Artemis steepled his fingers. ‘There were several clues. One, Butler did not conduct his usual bomb check