“We don’t bargain with kidnappers,” said Holly, surprised. “What’s going on here?”
“Nothing,” replied Foaly casually. “Straightforward exchange. The gold goes in, you come out. We send in the missile. Big blue bang, and it’s all over.”
“Does Fowl know about the bio-bomb?”
“Yep. Knows all about it. Claims he can escape the time-field.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Correct.”
“But they’ll all be killed!”
“Big deal,” retorted Foaly, and Holly could almost see him shrug. “That’s what you get when you mess with the People.”
Holly was torn. There was no doubt that Fowl was a danger to the civilized underworld. Very few tears would be shed over his body. But the girl, Juliet—she was an innocent. She deserved a chance.
Holly descended to an altitude of six and a half feet. Head height for Butler. The humans had congregated in the wreckage that used to be a hallway. There was disunity between them. The LEP officer could sense it.
Holly glared accusingly at Artemis. “Have you told them?”
Artemis returned her stare. “Told them what?”
“Yes, Fairy, told us what?” echoed Juliet belligerently, still a bit miffed over the mesmerizing.
“Don’t play dumb, Fowl. You know what I’m talking about.”
Artemis never could play dumb for very long. “Yes, Captain Short. I do. The bio-bomb. Your concern would be touching, if it extended to myself. Nevertheless, do not upset yourself. Everything is proceeding according to plan.”
“According to plan!” gasped Holly, pointing to the devastation surrounding them. “Was this part of the plan? And Butler almost getting killed—all part of the plan?”
“No,” Artemis admitted. “The troll was a slight blip. But irrelevant to the overall scheme.”
Holly resisted the urge to punch the pale human again, turning instead to Butler.
“Listen to reason, for heaven’s sake. You cannot escape the time-field. It has never been done.”
Butler’s features could have been etched in stone.
“If Artemis says it can be done, then it can.”
“But your sister. Are you willing to risk her life out of loyalty to a felon?”
“Artemis is no felon, miss, he is a genius. Now please remove yourself from my sightline. I am monitoring the main entrance.”
Holly buzzed up to twenty feet.
“You’re crazy. All of you! In five minutes you’ll all be dust. Don’t you realize?”
Artemis sighed. “You’ve had your answer, Captain. Now, please. This is a delicate stage in the proceedings.”
“Proceedings? It’s a kidnapping! At least have the guts to call it what it is.”
Artemis’s patience was beginning to fray.
“Butler, do we have any tranquilizer hypodermics left?”
The giant manservant nodded, but didn’t speak. At that precise moment, if the order came to sedate, he wasn’t sure if he would, or could. Luckily Artemis’s attention was diverted by activity in the avenue.
“Ah, it would seem the LEP have capitulated. Butler, supervise the delivery. But stay alert. Our fairy friends are not above trickery.”
“You’re a fine one to talk,” muttered Holly.
Butler hurried to the demolished doorway, checking the load and catch on his Sig Sauer nine-millimeter. He was almost grateful for some military activity to distract him from his dilemma. In situations like these, training took over. There was no room for sentiment.
A fine haze of dust still hung in the air. Butler squinted through it, into the avenue beyond. The fairy filters rigged over his eyes revealed that there were no warm bodies approaching. There was, however, a large trolley seemingly driving itself up to the front door. It was floating on a cushion of shimmering air. Doubtless Master Artemis would have understood the physics of this machine; all Butler cared about was whether or not he could disable it.
The trolley bumped into the first step.
“Automatic compensator, my foot,” snorted Root.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” replied Foaly. “I’m working on it.”
“It’s the ransom,” shouted Butler.
Artemis tried to quell the excitement rising in his chest. This was not the time to allow emotions to enter the equation.
“Check for booby traps.”
Butler stepped cautiously on to the porch. Shards of disintegrated gargoyle lay scattered beneath his feet.
“No hostiles. Seems to be self-propelled.”
The trolley lurched over the steps.
“I don’t know who’s driving this thing, but he could do with a few lessons.”
Butler bent low to the ground, scanning the trolley’s underside.
“No explosive devices visible.”
He extracted a Sweeper from his pocket, extending the telescopic aerial.
“No bugs either. Nothing detectable at any rate. But what do we have here?”
“Uh-oh,” said Foaly.
“It’s a camera.”
Butler reached in, pulling the fish-eye lens out by the cable.
“Nighty-night, gentlemen.”
In spite of the load it carried, the trolley responded easily to Butler’s touch, gliding across the threshold into the lobby. It stood there humming softly, as though waiting to be unloaded.
Now that the moment had come, Artemis was almost afraid to seize it. It was hard to believe that after all these months, his wicked scheme was minutes away from fruition. Of course these last few minutes were the vital ones, and the most dangerous.
“Open it,” he said at last, surprised at the tremble in his own voice.
It was an irresistible instant. Juliet approached tentatively, spangled eyes wide. Even Holly closed the throttle a notch, dropping until her feet brushed the marble tiling. Butler unzipped the black tarpaulin, dragging it back across the cargo.
Nobody said a thing. Artemis imagined that somewhere the 1812 Overture was playing. The gold sat there, stacked in shining rows. It seemed to have an aura, a warmth, but also an inherent danger. There were a lot of people willing to die or kill for the unimaginable wealth this gold could bring.
Holly was mesmerized. Fairies have an affinity for minerals, they are of the earth. But gold was their favorite. Its luster. Its allure.
“They paid,” she breathed. “I can’t believe it.”
“Neither can I,” murmured Artemis. “Butler, is it real?”
Butler hefted a bar from the stack. He dug the tip of a throwing knife into the ingot, gouging out a small sliver.
“It’s real all right,” he said, holding the scraping up to the light. “This one, at any rate.”
“Good. Very good. Begin unloading it, would you? We’ll send the trolley back out with Captain Short.”
Hearing her name dispelled Holly’s gold fever.
“Artemis, give it up. No human has ever succeeded in keeping fairy gold. And they’ve been trying for centuries. The LEP will do anything to protect their property.”
Artemis shook his head. Amused.
“I’ve told you . . .”
Holly took him by the shoulders. “You cannot escape! Don’t you understand?”
The boy returned her gaze coolly.
“I can escape, Holly. Look in my eyes and tell me that I can’t.”
So she did. Captain Holly Short gazed into her captor’s blue-black eyes, and she saw the truth in there. And for a moment she believed it.
“There’s still time,” she said desperately. “There must be something. I have magic.”
A crease of annoyance wrinkled the boy’s brow.
“I hate to disappoint you, Captain, but there is absolutely nothing.”
Artemis paused, his gaze tugged momentarily upstairs to the converted loft. Perhaps, he thought. Do I really need all this gold? And was his conscience not needling him, leaching some of the sweetness from his victory? He shook himself. Stick to the plan. Stick to t
he plan. No emotion.
Artemis felt a familiar hand on his shoulder.
“Everything all right?”
“Yes, Butler. Keep unloading. Get Juliet to help. I need to talk to Captain Short.”
“Are you sure there’s nothing wrong?”
Artemis sighed. “No, old friend, I’m not sure. But it’s too late now.”
Butler nodded, returning to his task. Juliet toddled along behind him like a terrier.
“Now, Captain. About your magic.”
“What about it?” Holly’s eyes were hooded with suspicion.
“What would I have to do to buy a wish?”
Holly glanced at the trolley.“Well, that depends. What do you have to bargain with?”
Root was not what you’d call relaxed. Increasingly wide bands of yellow light were poking through the blue. Minutes left. Minutes. His migraine was not helped by the pungent cigar feeding toxins into his system.