darkness.
'Afternoon, Mud Boys,' she said, smiling. Her hazel eyes sparkled impishly, or more accurately elfishly.
'Thanks for calling ahead,' said Butler sarcastically. 'Wouldn't want to spook anyone. No shimmer?'
Usually when fairies used their magic to shield, the only thing visible was a slight shimmer, like a heat haze. Holly's entrance had been completely undetectable.
Holly patted her own shoulder. 'New suit. Made entirely from smart wafers. It vibrates with me.'
Artemis studied one of the wafers, noting the microfilaments in the material. 'Foaly's work? Section Eight issue'.
Holly could not hide her surprise. She punched Artemis playfully on the shoulder. 'How do you know about Section Eight? Aren't we allowed any secrets?'
'Foaly shouldn't spy on me,' said Artemis. 'Where there's a way in, there's a way back. I suppose I should congratulate you on the new job.
And Foaly too.' He nodded at the tiny lens over Holly's right eye. 'Is he watching us now?'
'No. He's trying to figure out how you know what he doesn't. We're taping, though.'
'I presume you're talking about demons.'
'I might be.'
Butler stepped between them, interrupting the verbal sparring that was bound to follow.
'Before you two get into negotiations, how about a real hello?'
Holly smiled fondly at the huge bodyguard. She activated the electronic wings built into her suit and hovered to his eye level. Holly kissed his cheek, then wrapped her arms all the way round his head. They barely made it.
Butler rapped her helmet. 'Nice equipment. Not run-of-the-mill Lower Elements Police.'
'No,' agreed Holly, removing the helmet. 'This Section Eight stuff is years ahead of standard LEP. You get what you pay for, I suppose.'
Butler plucked the helmet from her hands. 'Anything an old soldier would be interested in?'
Holly pressed a button on her wrist computer. 'Check out the night vision. It's as clear as… well. . day. And the clever thing is that the filter reacts to light as it passes through, so no more being blinded by camera flashes.'
Butler nodded appreciatively. Night vision's major drawback had historically been that it left the soldier vulnerable to sudden flashes of light. Even a candle flame could blind the wearer momentarily.
Artemis cleared his throat. 'Excuse me, Captain. Are you two going to weep salty tears of admiration over a helmet all night, or do we have matters to discuss?'
Holly winked at Butler. 'Your master calls. I better see what he wants.'
Holly deactivated her wings, settling into the chair. She folded her arms, looking Artemis straight in the eyes.
'OK, Mud Boy. I'm all yours.'
'Demons. We need to talk about demons.'
Holly's eyes lost their playful twinkle. 'And why are you so interested in demons, Artemis?'
Artemis opened two shirt buttons and pulled out a gold coin on a thong.
The coin had a circular hole in the centre. Put there by a blast from Holly's laser.
'You gave this to me after you saved my father's life. I owe you. I owe the People. So now, I'm doing something for them.'
Holly wasn't entirely convinced. 'Usually before you do anything for the People, you negotiate a fee.'
Artemis accepted the accusation with a slight nod. 'It's true. It was true, but I have changed.'
Holly folded her arms. 'And?'
'And it's nice to find something Foaly missed, even if I did stumble on to it by accident.'
'And?'
Artemis sighed. 'Very well. There is another factor.'
'I thought so. What do you want? Gold? Technology?'
'No. Nothing like that.'
Artemis sat forward in his seat. 'Have you any idea how difficult it is to have had all those thrilling adventures with the LEP and suddenly not be a part of that world any more?'
'Yes,' replied Holly. 'Actually I do.'
'I went from saving the world to geometry in a week. I'm bored, Holly.
My intellect is not being challenged, so when I came across the demon gospel in the Book, I realized that here was a way to be involved without affecting things. I could simply observe, and perhaps refine,
Foaly's calculations.'
'Which are not actually in the Book,' Holly pointed out. 'Simply observe, my foot.'
Artemis waved Holly's point away. 'Some harmless hacking. The centaur started it. So, I began travelling to materialization sites, but nothing happened until Barcelona. A demon showed up all right, except he showed up in the wrong place, and late. I simply stumbled across him. I would be floating in prehistoric space right now if Butler hadn't anchored me to this dimension with silver.'
Holly stifled a laugh. 'So it was luck. The great Artemis Fowl trumps the mighty Foaly thanks to dumb luck.'
Artemis was miffed. 'Informed luck, I think, is a better description.
Anyway, that is unimportant. I have recalculated with the new figures, and my conclusions, if borne out, could be calamitous for the People.'
'Go on, tell me. In short words, though. You wouldn't believe the amount of science I had to listen to today.'
'This is serious, Holly,' snapped Artemis. His outburst was followed by a chorus of shushes from the audience.
'This is serious,' he repeated in hushed tones.
'Why?' asked Holly. 'Surely it's just a matter of sharing your new figures and letting Foaly take care of the rest with light-distortion projectors?'
'Not quite,' said Artemis, settling back in his chair. 'If a demon appears on that stage in the next four minutes, then soon there won't be enough projectors to go round. If I'm right and the time spell is unravelling, then Hybras and everyone on it will soon be dragged back into this dimension. Most of the demons won't make it alive, but those who do could pop up anywhere and at any time.'
Holly switched her gaze to the stage. A raven-haired woman was holding ridiculously high notes for a ridiculously long time. Holly wondered if the woman would even notice a demon popping out of the air for a second or two. There wasn't supposed to be a materialization today. If there was, then that would mean Artemis was right, as usual, and a lot more demons were on the way. If that happened, then
Artemis Fowl and Holly Short would be up to their necks in the whole saving-the-fairy-race thing, yet again.
Holly glanced sideways at Artemis, who was studying the stage through a pair of opera glasses. She would never tell him, but if a human had to be involved with saving the fairy People, then Artemis was probably the best man, or boy, for the job.
No.1 struggled up towards the first rocky ridge on the side of the volcano. Several demons passed him on the trail, but not one tried to talk him out of it. In fact, he'd bumped into Hadley Shrivelington
Basset, who had offered to scratch a map on a piece of bark for him.
No.1 suspected that if he did take the big dimensional jump, no one would miss him any more than they would miss their favourite crossbow target. Except perhaps the demoness with red markings who smiled at him. The one from the compound. Maybe she would miss him a little.
No.1 stopped in his tracks when he realized that the only demon who would care if he was gone was one he had never spoken to.
He moaned aloud. How depressing was that!
No.1 trudged onwards past the final warning which, with typical demon subtlety, was in the form of a
