Artemis Fowl_ The Opal Deception - Eoin Colfer [73]
Artemis had known this earlier, but now it meant something.
There was one other thought, more persistent than the rest. It crashed into his mind like a tsunami.
I have friends? thought Artemis Fowl the Second. I have friends.
Artemis emerged from the bathroom a different person. Physically, he was still battered, bruised, and exhausted, but emotionally he felt prepared for everything that lay ahead. If a body language analyst had studied him at that moment, they would have observed his relaxed shoulders and open palms, and would have concluded that this was, psychologically speaking, a more welcoming and trustworthy individual than the one who had entered the bathroom an hour since.
The shuttle was parked in a secondary chute off the beaten track, and the occupants were at the mess table. A selection of LEP field ration packs had been torn open and devoured. The biggest pile of foil packs was stacked in front of Mulch Diggums.
Mulch glanced at Artemis and noticed the change immediately. “About time you got your head in order,” grunted Mulch, struggling from his chair. “I need to get into that bathroom urgently.”
“Nice to see you too, Mulch,” said Artemis, stepping aside to allow the dwarf past.
Holly froze, a sachet of juice halfway to her mouth. “You remember him?”
Artemis smiled. “Of course, Holly. We have known each other for more than two years.”
Holly jumped from her chair and clasped Artemis by the shoulders. “Artemis. It’s great to see you. The real you. The gods know we need Artemis Fowl right now.”
“Well, he’s here and ready for duty, Captain.”
“Do you remember everything?”
“Yes. I do. And first of all, let me apologize for that consultant business. That was very rude. Please forgive me.”
“But what made you remember?” asked the elf. “Don’t tell me a visit to the bathroom jogged your memory.”
“Not exactly.” Artemis held up the computer disk. “I gave this to Mulch. It is my video diary. He was supposed to return it to me upon his release from prison.”
Holly shook her head. “That’s not possible. Mulch was searched by experts. The only thing you gave him was the gold medallion.”
Artemis angled the disk so it caught the light.
“Of course,” groaned Holly, slapping her forehead. “You passed off that disk as the gold medallion. Very clever.”
Artemis shrugged. “Genius, actually. It seems merely clever in hindsight, but the original idea was pure genius.”
Holly cocked her head. “Genius. Of course. Believe it or not I actually missed that smug grin.”
Artemis took a breath. “I am so sorry about Julius. I know our relationship was a rocky one, but I had nothing but respect and admiration for the commander.”
Holly wiped her eyes with the heels of her hands. She said nothing, just nodded. If Artemis needed another reason to go after Opal Koboi, the sight of the elfin captain so disturbed was it.
Butler ate the contents of a field ration pack in one mouthful. “Now that we’re all reacquainted, we should try to track Opal Koboi down. It’s a big world.”
Artemis waved his fingers dismissively. “No need. I know exactly where our would-be murderer is. Like all megalomaniacs, she has a tendency to show off.” He crossed to a plastic computer keyboard on the wall and called up a map of Europe.
“I see your Gnommish has come back to you,” sniffed Holly.
“Of course,” said Artemis, enlarging part of the map. “Opal revealed a little bit more of her plan than she knew. She let two words slip, though one would have been sufficient. She said that her human name was to be Belinda Zito. Now, if you wished to lead the humans to the Fairy People, who better to have adopt you than the renowned billionaire environmentalist Giovanni Zito?”
Holly crossed the shuttle deck to the screen. “And where would we find Dr. Zito?”
Artemis tapped a few keys, zooming in on Sicily. “At his world-famous Earth Ranch. Right there in the Messina province,” he said.
Mulch stuck his head out of the bathroom. The rest was mercifully