Artemis Fowl - Eoin Colfer [60]
“Is that a fact?”
“Yes. It is. You opted to send in a lapsed creature. So now I’m going to.”
Root smiled dangerously. “You don’t opt to do anything, Lieutenant, not without my say-so.”
Cudgeon took an unconscious step backward.
“I’ve been to the Council, Julius. I have their full backing.”
The commander turned to Foaly. “Is this true?”
“Apparently. It just came through on the outside line. This is Cudgeon’s party now. He told the Council about the ransom demand and you springing Mister Diggums. You know what the elders are like when it comes to parting with gold.”
Root folded his arms. “People told me about you, Cudgeon. They said you’d stab me in the back. I didn’t believe them. I was a fool.”
“This is not about us, Julius. It’s about the mission. What’s inside this cage is our best chance of success.”
“So what’s in the cage? No, don’t tell me. The only other nonmagical creature in the Lower Elements. And the first troll we’ve managed to take alive in over a century.”
“Exactly. The perfect creature to flush out our adversary.”
Root’s cheeks glowed with the effort of restraining his anger.
“I don’t believe you’re even considering this.”
“Face it, Julius, it’s the same basic idea as yours.”
“No, it isn’t. Mulch Diggums made his own choices. He knew the risks.”
“Diggums is dead?”
Root rubbed his eyes again. “Yes. It would seem so. A cave-in.”
“That just proves I’m right. A troll won’t be so easily dispatched.”
“It’s a dumb animal, for heaven’s sake! How can a troll follow instructions?”
Cudgeon smiled, newborn confidence peeping through his apprehension.
“What instructions? We just point it at the house and get out of the way. I guarantee you those humans will be begging us to come in and rescue them.”
“And what about my officer?”
“We’ll have the troll back under lock and key long before Captain Short is in any danger.”
“You can guarantee that, can you?”
Cudgeon paused. “That’s a chance I’m willing . . . the Council is willing to take.”
“Politics,” spat Root. “This is all politics to you, Cudgeon. A nice feather in your cap on the way to a Council seat. You make me sick.”
“Be that as it may, we are proceeding with this strategy. The Council has appointed me Acting Commander, so if you can’t put our personal history aside, get the hell out of my way.”
Root stepped aside. “Don’t worry, Commander. I don’t want anything to do with this butchery. The credit is all yours.”
Cudgeon put on his best sincere face. “Julius, despite what you think, I have only the interests of the People at heart.”
“One person in particular,” snorted Root.
Cudgeon decided to go for the high moral ground.
“I don’t have to stand here listening to this. Every second talking to you is a second wasted.”
Root looked him straight in the eye. “That’s about six hundred years wasted altogether, eh, friend?”
Cudgeon didn’t answer. What could he say? Ambition had a price, and that price was friendship.
Cudgeon turned to his squad, a group of handpicked sprites, loyal only to him. “Get the hovercage over to the avenue. We don’t green-light until I give the word.”
He brushed past Root, eyes looking anywhere except at his erstwhile friend. Foaly wouldn’t let him go without a comment.
“Hey, Cudgeon.”
The Acting Commander couldn’t tolerate that tone, not on his first day.
“You watch your mouth, Foaly. No one is indispensable.”
The centaur chuckled. “Very true. That’s the thing about politics, you get one shot.”
Cudgeon was semi-interested in spite of himself.
“I know if it was me,” continued Foaly, “and I had one chance, just one chance, to book my behind a seat on that Council, I certainly wouldn’t entrust my future to a troll.”
And suddenly Cudgeon’s newfound confidence evaporated, replaced by a shiny pallor. He wiped his brow, hurrying after the departing hovercage.
“See you tomorrow,” Foaly called after him. “You’ll be taking out my trash.”
Root laughed. Possibly the first time one of Foaly’s comments had amused him.
“Good man, Foaly.” He grinned. “Hit