Tourrettes sur Loup is a small artisans' village perched on the lower slopes of the Alpes Maritimes. The Paradizo chateau was further up the slopes, on a flattened peak below the snowline.
The chateau was originally nineteenth century but had undergone extensive renovation. The walls were solid stone, the windows were reflective and probably bulletproof, and there were cameras every where. The road leading to the chateau was typical of the region: narrow and tightly looped. There was an observation tower on the building's southern corner which afforded any sentry a 360-degree view of any avenue of approach. Several men patrolled the grounds close to the main building and the gardens were dotted with grassy dunes, but did not provide a shred of cover.
Artemis and Butler were concealed in a line of bushes on the adjacent slope. Butler studied the chateau through high-powered binoculars.
'You certainly can pick them,' noted the bodyguard. 'I think I saw this place in a Bond movie once.'
'No problem for you, surely?'
Butler frowned. 'I'm a bodyguard, Artemis. A human bulletproof vest.
Breaking into fortified castles is not my speciality.'
'You have rescued me from more secure locations than this one.'
'True,' agreed the bodyguard. 'But I had intel, an inside man. Or I was desperate. If I had to walk away from here, it wouldn't trouble me unduly, so long as you were walking away with me.'
Artemis patted his arm. 'We can't walk away, old friend.'
Butler sighed. 'I suppose not.' He handed Artemis the binoculars. 'Now, start at the western corner and sweep east.'
Artemis raised the binoculars to his eyes, then adjusted the focus.
'I see two-man patrols.'
'Soto's private security company. No weapons showing, but they have bulges below their jackets. Basic training, I imagine. But with more than twenty of them on and around the premises it would be very difficult to overpower them all. And even if I did, the local police would be here in minutes.'
Artemis moved the binoculars a few degrees. 'I see a little boy wearing a cowboy hat driving a toy car.'
'Paradizo's son, Beau, presumably. Nobody pays much attention to him. Move on.'
'Sensors in the eaves?'
'I've actually researched that particular model. The very latest sealed security pods. Closed circuit, infrared, motion sensors, night vision. The works. I've been meaning to upgrade Fowl Manor.'
There were small speakers on spikes dotted around the chateau.
'A sound system?'
Butler snorted. 'I wish. Those are waffle boxes. They transmit interference. Our directional microphones are useless here. I doubt even Foaly could pick up anything inside that building.'
Holly shimmered into visibility beside them. 'You're right. He's pulled one of our shrouded satellites out of orbit to get a look at this place, but it's going to be several hours before the chateau is inside its footprint.'
Butler took his hand off his gun butt. 'Holly, I wish you wouldn't appear like that. I'm a bodyguard. I get jumpy.'
Holly smiled, punching him on the leg. 'I know, big man. That's why I do it. Think of me as on-the-job training.'
Artemis barely glanced up from the binoculars. 'We need to find out what's happening in there. If only we could get a man inside.'
Holly frowned. 'I can't go into a human dwelling without per mission.
You know the rules. If a fairy enters a human dwelling without an invitation, they lose their magic, and that's after a few hours of painful vomiting and cramps.'
After the battles atTaillte, Frond, the king of the fairy People, had tried to keep mischievous fairies away from human dwellings by imposing magical geasa or rules on fairies. He had used his warlocks to construct a powerful spell to impose his will. Anyone attempting to break these rules would become deathly ill and lose their magic. Now, the spell was fading with time, but it was still strong enough to cause nausea and a dimming of the sparks of magic.
'What about Butler? You could lend him a sheet of Foaly's cam foil. He'd be as good as invisible.'
Holly shook her head. 'There's a laser pyramid all over the grounds.
Even with cam foil, Butler would break the beams.'
'Mulch then? He's a criminal, long past the allergic reaction stage.
Cramps and vomiting wouldn't affect him.'
Holly scanned the grounds with her X-ray filter. 'This place is built on solid rock, and the walls are a metre thick, Mulch could never burrow in there unnoticed.' Her X-ray vision fell on the skeleton of a small boy driving his little electric car. She raised her visor to see Beau Paradizo zigzagging through the guards unmolested.
'Mulch couldn't get in there,' she said, smiling. 'But I think I know someone who could.'
Chapter 6: Dwarf Walks Into A Bar
Mulch Diggums strolled through Haven's Market District, feeling more relaxed with every step. The Market District was a lowlife zone, as much as you could have a lowlife zone on a street which boasted two hundred cameras and a permanent LEP cabin on the corner. But even so, criminals outnumbered civilians here eight to one. My kind of people, thought Mulch. Or at least they used to be before I threw in with Holly.
It wasn't that Mulch regretted teaming up with Holly, but sometimes he did miss the old days. There was something about thievery that made his heart sing. The thrill of the snatch, the euphoria of easy money.
Don't forget the despair of prison, his practical side reminded him. And the loneliness of life on the run.
True. Crime wasn't all fun and games. It had minor downsides, like fear, pain and death. But Mulch had been able to ignore those for a long time, until Commander Julius Root had been killed by a criminal. Until then it had all been a game. Julius was the cat and he was the elusive mouse. But with Julius gone, returning to a life of crime would seem like a slap in the face to the commander's memory.
And that's why I like this new job so much, concluded Mulch happily. I get to run around behind the LEP's back and consort with known criminals.
He had been watching talk shows in the Section 8 lounge when Foaly had come cantering in. Truth be told, Mulch liked Foaly. They knocked sparks off each other whenever they met, but it kept both of them on their toes, or hooves, whichever the case may be.
In this instance, there had been no time for tomfoolery, and Foaly had brusquely explained the situation above ground. They did have a plan,
but it hinged on Mulch's ability to find the pixie smuggler Doodah Day and bring him back to Section 8.
'That's going to take some doing,' noted Mulch. 'The last time I saw
Doodah, he was scraping dwarf gunge off his boots. He doesn't like me very much. I'm going to need leverage.'
'You tell that pixie that if he helps us out he's a free fairy. I'll go into the system myself and wipe his record.'
Mulch raised his shaggy eyebrows. 'It's that important?'
'It's that important.'
'I saved this city,' grumbled the dwarf. 'Twice in fact! Nobody ever wiped my record. This pixie goes on one mission and poof, he walks.
What do I get? Seeing as we're handing out wishes.'
Foaly stamped a hoof impatiently. 'You get your exorbitant consultant's fee. Whatever. Just get on this. Do you have any way to track Mister Day down?'
Mulch whistled. 'It's going to be devilishly tough. That pixie will have gone to ground after this morning. But I
