‘Of course,’ agreed Artemis. ‘As opposed to a scientifically viable scheme, right now, that has every chance of succeeding.’
Holly headed for the cockpit. ‘I have to turn myself in, even if I am a murder suspect. There is more at stake here than my future.’
‘Steady on,’ objected Mulch. ‘I broke out of prison for you. I have no desire to be shoved back in again.’
Artemis stepped in front of her. ‘Wait a minute, Holly. Think about what will happen if you do turn yourself in.’
‘Artemis is right,’ added Butler. ‘You should think about this. If the LEP is anything like human police forces, fugitives are not exactly welcomed with open arms. Open cell doors maybe.’
Holly forced herself to stop and think, but it was difficult. Every second she waited was another second for the giant iron slug to eat its way through the mantle.
‘If I give myself up to Internal Affairs, I will be taken into custody. As an LEP officer, I can be held for seventy-two hours without counsel. As a murder suspect, I can be held for up to a week. Even if someone did believe that I was completely innocent and that Opal Koboi was behind all this, it would still take at least eight hours to get clearance for an operation. But in all likelihood my claims would be dismissed as the standard protests of the guilty. Especially with you three backing up my story. No offence.’
‘None taken,’ said Mulch.
Holly sat down, cradling her head in her hands. ‘My world is utterly gone. I keep thinking there will be a way back, but things just spin further and further out of control.’
Artemis placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘Courage, Captain. Ask yourself, what would the commander do?’
Holly took three deep breaths, then sprang from her seat, her back stiff with determination.
‘Don’t you try to manipulate me, Artemis Fowl. I make my own decisions. Even so, Julius would take care of Opal Koboi himself. So that’s what we’re going to do.’
‘Excellent,’ said Artemis. ‘In that case we will need a strategy.’
‘Right. I’ll fly the shuttle. You put that brain of yours to work and come up with a plan.’
‘Each to his own,’ said the boy. He sat in one of the shuttle’s chairs, gently massaged his temples with his fingertips and began to think.
Chapter 9: Daddy’s Girl
THE ZITO EARTH FARM, MESSINA PROVINCE, SICILY
Opal’s plan to bring the human and fairy worlds together was one of simplicity in its execution, but genius in its conception. She simply made it easier for a human to do what he was already thinking of doing. Almost every major energy company in the world had a ‘Core Probe’ file, but they were all hypothetical as regards the amount of explosives needed to blast through the crust and the iron necessary to get the probe through the mantle.
Opal had picked Giovanni Zito from her list of prospective puppets because of two things: Zito had a large fortune and he had land directly above a huge, high-grade haematite orebody.
Giovanni Zito was a Sicilian engineer and a pioneer in the field of alternative power sources. A committed environmentalist, Zito developed ways of generating electricity without stripping the land or destroying the environment. The invention that had made his fortune was the Zito solar-mill, a windmill with solar panels for blades, making it many times more efficient than conventional mills.
Six weeks earlier, Zito had returned from an environmental summit in Geneva, where he had delivered the keynote address to ministers of the European Union. By the time he reached his villa overlooking the Strait of Messina, the sunset was dropping orange blobs in the water, and Zito was exhausted. Talking to politicians was difficult.
Even the ones who were genuinely interested in the environment were hamstrung by those in the pay of big business. The ‘polluticians’, as the media had nicknamed them.
Zito ran himself a bath. The water was heated by solar panels on his roof. In fact, the entire villa was self- sufficient when it came to power. There was enough juice in the solar batteries to keep the house hot and lit for six months. All with zero emissions.
After his bath, Zito wrapped himself in a towelling dressing gown and poured a glass of Bordeaux, settling into his favourite armchair.
Zito took a long draught of wine, willing the day’s tension to evaporate. He cast his eyes over the familiar row of framed photographs on the wall. Most were magazine covers celebrating his technological innovations, but his favourite one, the one that had made him famous, was the Time magazine cover that showed a younger Giovanni Zito astride a humpback whale, with a whaling ship looming over them both. The unfortunate creature had strayed into shallow waters and could not dive, so Zito had leaped from a conservationists’ dinghy on to the creature’s back, thus shielding it from the whalers’ harpoons. Someone on the dinghy had snapped a photo, and that photo had become one of the most famous media images of the last century.
Zito smiled. Heady days. He was about to close his eyes for a quick nap before dinner when something moved in the shadows in the corner of the room. Something small, barely the height of the table.
Zito sat straight up in his chair. ‘What’s that? Is somebody there?’
A lamp flicked on to reveal a small girl perched on a log stool. She held the lamp cord in her hand and seemed not in the least afraid or upset in any way. In fact, the girl was calm and composed, regarding Zito as if he were the intruder.
Giovanni stood.
‘Who are you, little one? Why are you here?’
The girl fixed him with the most incredible eyes. Deep brown eyes. Deep as a vat of chocolate.
‘I am here for you, Giovanni,’ she said in a voice as beautiful as her eyes. In fact, everything about the girl was beautiful: her porcelain features… and those eyes. They would not let him go.
Zito fought her spell. ‘For me? What do you mean? Is your mother nearby?’
The girl smiled. ‘Not nearby, no. You are my family now.’
Giovanni tried to make sense of this simple sentence, but he could not. Was it really important? Those eyes, and that voice. So melodic. Layers of crystal tinkling.
Humans react differently to the fairy mesmer. Most immediately fall under its hypnotic spell, but there are those with strong minds who need to be pushed a little.
And the more they are pushed, the greater the risk of brain damage.
‘I am your family now?’ said Zito slowly, as though he were searching each word for its meaning.
‘Yes, human,’ snapped Opal impatiently, pushing harder. ‘My family. I am your daughter, Belinda. You adopted me last month, secretly. The papers are in your bureau.’
Zito’s eyes lost their focus. ‘Adopted? Bureau?’
Opal drummed her tiny fingers on the base of the lamp. She had forgotten how dull some humans could be, especially under the mesmer. And this one was supposed to be a genius.
‘Yes. Adopted. Bureau. You love me more than life, remember? You would do absolutely anything for your darling Belinda.’
A tear pooled on Zito’s eyelid. ‘Belinda. My little girl. I’d do anything for you, dear, anything.’
‘Yes, yes, yes,’ said Opal impatiently. ‘Of course. I said that. Just because you’re mesmerized doesn’t mean you have to repeat everything I say. That is so tiresome.’
Zito noticed two small creatures in the corner. Creatures with pointed ears. This fact penetrated the mesmer’s fugue.
‘I see. Over there. Are they human?’
Opal glowered at the Brill brothers. They were supposed to stay out of sight.
Mesmerizing a strong mind such as Zito’s was a delicate enough operation without distractions.
She added another layer to her voice. ‘You cannot see those figures. You will never see them.’
Zito was relieved. ‘Of course. Good. Nothing at all. Mind playing tricks.’
Opal scowled. What was it about humans and grammar? At the first sign of stress it went out of the
