Artemis Fowl_ The Arctic Incident - Eoin Colfer [53]
Opal glanced at the Foaly screen. ‘Disappointing, frankly. I expected some plotting. An escape attempt, at least. But all he does is mope about and throw the odd tantrum.’
Cudgeon’s smile widened. ‘Suicidal, I expect. In fact, I’m certain of it.’ Then the recently promoted commander was all business again. ‘What of the LEP? Any unexpected brainwaves?’
‘No. Exactly as you predicted. They are cowering in Police Plaza like tortoises in their shells. Shall I shut off local communications?’
Cudgeon shook his head. ‘No. They broadcast their every move on their so-called secure channels. Keep them open. Just in case.’
Opal Koboi hovered closer to the screen. ‘Tell me again, Briar. Tell me about the future.’
For a moment, annoyance flashed across Cudgeon’s face. But today, of all days, his good humour could not be suppressed for long.
‘The Council has been told that Foaly has orchestrated the sabotage from his locked Operations’ booth. But you shall miraculously override the centaur’s program and return control of Police Plaza’s DNA cannons to the LEP. Those ridiculous goblins shall be overrun. I shall be the hero of the resistance, and you shall be my princess. Every military contract for the next five hundred years shall belong to Koboi Laboratories.’
Opal’s breath caught in her throat. ‘And then?’
‘And then, together we will rid the Earth of these tiresome Mud People. That, my dear, is the future.’
ARCTIC SHUTTLE TERMINAL
Artemis’s phone rang. Something even he hadn’t anticipated. He stripped off a glove with his teeth, tearing the mobile phone from its Velcro strip.
‘Text message,’ he said, navigating through the mobile phone’s menu. ‘No one has this number except Butler.’
Holly folded her arms. ‘Obviously someone has.’
Artemis ignored her tone. ‘It must be Foaly. He’s been monitoring my wireless communications for months. Either he’s using my computer, or he’s found a way to unify our platforms.’
‘I see,’ said Butler and Root together. Two big lies.
Holly was unimpressed by all the jargon. ‘So what does it say?’
Artemis tapped the tiny screen. ‘See for yourself.’
Captain Short took the mobile phone, scrolling through the message and reading it aloud. Her face grew longer with each line…
CMNDR ROOT. TRBLE BELOW. HAVN OVERRN BY GOBLNS. PLICE PLAZA SRROUNDED. CUDGEON + OPL KBOI BHND PLOT. NO WPONS OR CMMUNICATIONS. DNA CNONS CNTRLLED BY KBOI. I M TRPPED IN OP BTH. CNCLTHNKS IM 2 BLM. IF ALIVE PLSE HLP IF NOT, WRNG NMBR.
Holly swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. ‘This is not good.’
The commander jumped to his feet, grabbing the mobile phone to read the message for himself.
‘No,’ he declared moments later. ‘It certainly isn’t. Cudgeon! All the time it was Cudgeon. Why didn’t I see it? Can we get a message to Foaly?’
Artemis considered it. ‘No. There’s no network here. I’m surprised we could even receive.’
‘Couldn’t you rig it somehow?’
‘Certainly. Just give me six months, some specialized equipment and three kilometres of steel girder.’
Holly snorted. ‘Some criminal mastermind you turned out to be.’
Butler placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. ‘Shh,’ he whispered. ‘Artemis is thinking.’
Artemis stared deep into the glow cube’s liquid-plasma heart. ‘We have two options,’ he began, after a moment. Nobody interrupted, not even Holly. After all, it had been Artemis Fowl who had devised a way to escape the time field.
‘We could get some human aid. No doubt some of Butler’s more dubious acquaintances could be persuaded to help, for a fee, of course.’
Root shook his head. ‘No good.’
‘They could be mind-wiped afterwards.’
‘Sometimes wipes don’t take. The last thing we need is mercenaries with residual memories. Option Two?’
‘We break into Koboi Laboratories and return weapons control to the LEP.’
The commander guffawed. ‘Break into Koboi Laboratories? Are you serious? That entire compound is built on bedrock. There are no windows, totally blast-resistant walls and DNA stun cannons.