Artemis Fowl_ The Arctic Incident - Eoin Colfer [51]
Holly took a long drink and soon the colour surged back to her cheeks.
‘So we were ambushed by a B’ wa Kell hit team,’ she mused. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means you have a leak,’ said Artemis, holding his hands close to the cube’s warmth. ‘It was my impression that this mission was top secret. Not even your Council was informed. The only person who isn’t here is that centaur.’
Holly jumped to her feet. ‘Foaly? It can’t be.’
Artemis raised his palms. ‘Logic. That’s all it is.’
‘This is all very well,’ interrupted the commander, ‘but it’s conjecture. We need to assess our situation. What have we got, and what do we know for sure?’
Butler nodded. The commander was a being after his own heart. A soldier.
Root answered his own question. ‘We’ve still got the shuttle, provided it’s not wired. There’s a locker full of provisions. Atlantean food mostly, so get used to fish and squid.’
‘And what do we know?’
Artemis took over. ‘We know that the goblins have a source in the LEP. We also know if they tried to take out the LEP’s head, Commander Root, then they must be after the body. Their best chance of success would be to mount both operations simultaneously.’
Holly chewed her lip. ‘So that means…’
‘That means there is probably some kind of revolution going on below ground.’
‘The B’ wa Kell against the LEP?’ scoffed Holly. ‘No problem.’
‘Generally, that may be true,’ agreed Artemis. ‘But if your weapons are out…’
‘Then so are theirs,’ completed Root, ‘in theory.’
Artemis moved closer to the glow cube. ‘Worst-case scenario: Haven has been taken by the B’ wa Kell, and the Council members are either dead or imprisoned. Quite honestly, things look grim.’
Neither fairy responded. Grim hardly did the situation justice. Disastrous was closer to the mark.
Even Artemis was slightly disheartened. None of this was helping his father.
‘I suggest we rest here for a while, pack some provisions, and then proceed towards Murmansk as soon as we get some cloud cover. Butler can search this man Vassikin’s apartment. Perhaps we will be lucky and my father will be there. I realize that we are at a slight disadvantage without weapons, but we still have surprise on our side.’
No one spoke for several moments. It was an uneasy silence. Everybody knew what should be said, but nobody wanted to say it.
‘Artemis,’ said Butler eventually, laying a hand on the boy’s shoulder. ‘We’re in no shape to go up against the Mafiya. We don’t have any firepower, and our colleagues need to get below ground, so we don’t have any magic. If we go in there now, we’re not coming out. Any of us.’
Artemis stared deep into the heart of the glow cube. ‘But my father is so close, Butler. I can’t give up now.’
In spite of herself, Holly was touched by his unwillingness to give up, against all the odds. She was certain that, for once, Artemis wasn’t trying to manipulate anybody. He was simply a boy who missed his father. Maybe her defences were down, but she felt sorry for him.
‘We’re not giving up, Artemis,’ she said softly. ‘We’re regrouping. There’s a difference. We’ll be back. Remember, it’s always darkest before the dawn.’
Artemis looked at her. ‘What dawn? We’re in the Arctic, remember.’
OPERATIONS’ BOOTH
Foaly was furious with himself. After all the security encryptions he’d built into his systems, Opal Koboi had simply strolled in here and hijacked the entire network. And what’s more, the LEP had paid her for the job.
The centaur had to admire her nerve. It was a brilliantly simple plan. Apply for the upgrade contract, submit the lowest estimate. Get the LEP to give you an access-all-areas chip and then piggyback spy cams on the local systems. She had even billed the LEP for the surveillance equipment.
Foaly pushed a few buttons experimentally. No response. Not that he’d expected any. Doubtless, Opal Koboi had everything wired, down to the last