Artemis Fowl_ The Opal Deception - Eoin Colfer [69]
“I’ve got something,” he announced.
Holly scooted around to his side, examining the hole.
“Good,” she said. “An external power port. Power cells have uniform connection points, so the cuffs’ cells should clip right on.”
She fumbled the cuffs from her pocket and popped the cell covers. The cells themselves were about the size of credit cards, and glowed bright blue along their length.
Holly stood up on the razor-edge rooftop, balancing nimbly on her toes. The trolls were swarming over the lip of the roof now. Advancing like the hounds of hell.
The white roof plaster was blanketed by the black, brown, and ginger of troll fur. Their howls and stink preceded them as they closed in on Holly and Artemis.
Holly waited until they were all over the lip, then slid the power cells into the globe’s socket. The globe buzzed, vibrated to life, then flashed once. A blinding wall of light. For a moment the entire exhibit glowed brilliant white, then the globe faded again with a high-pitched whine.
The trolls rolled like balls on a tilted pool table. Some tumbled over the edge of the roof but most collected on the lip, where they lay whining and scratching their faces.
Artemis closed his eyes to accelerate the return of his night vision. “I had hoped the cell would power the sun for longer. It seems like a lot of effort for such a brief reprieve.”
Holly pulled out the dead cells and tossed them aside. “I suppose a globe like this needs a lot of juice.”
Artemis blinked, then sat comfortably on the roof, clasping his knees.
“Still. We have some time. It can take nocturnal creatures up to fifteen minutes to recover their orientation following exposure to bright light.”
Holly sat beside him. “Fascinating. You’re very calm all of a sudden.”
“I have no choice,” said Artemis simply. “I have analyzed the situation and concluded that there is no way for us to escape. We are on top of a ridiculous model of the Temple of Artemis, surrounded by temporarily blinded trolls. As soon as they recover, they will lope up here and devour us.
We have perhaps a quarter of an hour to live, and I have no intention of spending it in hysterics for Opal Koboi’s amusement.”
Holly looked up, searching the hemisphere for cameras. At least a dozen telltale red lights winked from the darkness. Opal would be able to watch her revenge from every angle.
Artemis was right. Opal would be tickled pink if they fell to pieces for the cameras. She would probably replay the video to cheer herself up when being princess of the world got to be too stressful.
Holly drew back her arm and sent the spent power cells skidding across the roof. It seemed then that this was it. She felt more frustrated than scared. Julius’s final order had been to save Artemis, and she hadn’t managed to accomplish even that.
“I’m sorry you don’t remember Julius,” she said. “You two argued a lot, but he admired you behind it all. It was Butler he really liked, though. Those two were on the same wavelength. Two old soldiers.”
Below them, the trolls were gathering themselves. Blinking away the stars in their eyes.
Artemis slapped some of the dust from his trousers. “I do remember, Holly. I remember it all. Especially you. It’s a real comfort to have you here.”
Holly was surprised. Shocked, even. More by Artemis’s tone than what he had actually said, though that was surprising too. She had never heard Artemis sound so warm, so sincere. Usually, emotional displays were difficult for the boy, and he stumbled through them awkwardly. This wasn’t like him at all.
“That’s very nice, Artemis,” she said after a moment’s consideration. “But you don’t have to pretend for me.”
Artemis was puzzled. “How did you know? I thought I portrayed the emotions perfectly.”
Holly looked down at the massing trolls. They were advancing warily up the slope, heads down in case