Artemis Fowl_ The Opal Deception - Eoin Colfer [75]
The reporter swallowed nervously. “Really?”
Zito laughed. “Don’t worry. The charges are shaped. The blast is focused down and in. The iron will be liquefied and begin its descent to the earth’s core, carrying the probe with it. We will feel nothing.”
“Down and in? You’re sure about that?”
“Positive,” said Zito. “We are perfectly safe here.”
On the wall behind the Italian doctor, a speaker squawked three times. “Dottore Zito,” said a gruff voice. “All clear. All clear.”
Zito picked a black remote detonator from the desk.
“The time has come,” he said dreamily. He looked straight into the camera. “My darling Belinda, this is for you.”
Zito pressed the button and waited, wide eyed. The room’s other occupants, the dozen or so scientists and technicians, turned anxiously to various readout panels and monitors.
“We have detonation,” announced one.
Sixteen yards belowground, forty-two shaped charges exploded, simultaneously liquefying one hundred and eighteen million tons of iron. The rock content was pulverized and absorbed by the metal. A pillar of smoke blew out of the cylindrical opening, but there was no detectable vibration.
“The probe is functioning at one hundred percent,” said a technician.
Zito breathed out. “That was our big worry. Even though the probe is designed for exactly these conditions, the world has never seen this kind of explosion before.” He turned to another lab worker. “Any movement?”
The man hesitated before answering. “Yes, Dr. Zito. We have vertical movement. Sixteen feet per second. Exactly as you hypothesized.”
Below the earth’s crust, a behemoth of iron and rock began its painstaking descent toward the earth’s core. It chugged and churned, bubbling and hissing, prying apart the mantle below it. Inside the molten mass, a grapefruit-sized probe continued to broadcast data.
Spontaneous euphoria erupted in the laboratory. Men and women hugged each other. Cigars were lit and champagne corks popped. Someone even pulled out a violin.
“We are on our way,” shouted a jubilant Zito, lighting the reporter’s cigar. “Man is going to the center of the earth. Look out below!”
In the stolen LEP shuttle, Holly froze the picture. Zito’s triumphant features were spread across the screen.
“Look out below,” she repeated glumly. “Man is coming to the center of the earth.”
* * *
The moods in the shuttle ranged from glum to desolate. Holly was taking it especially hard. The entire fairy civilization was under threat yet again, and this time Commander Root wasn’t around to meet the challenge. Not only that, but since the LEP pursuit pods had blown out their communications, there was no way to warn Foaly about the probe.
“I have no doubt he already knows,” said Artemis. “That centaur monitors all the human news channels.”
“But he doesn’t know that Opal Koboi is giving Zito the benefit of her fairy knowledge.” She pointed at Giovanni’s image on the screen. “Look at his eyes. The poor man has been mesmerized so many times that his pupils are actually ragged.”
Artemis stroked his chin thoughtfully. “If I know Foaly, he’s been monitoring this project since its initiation. He probably already has a contingency plan.”
“I’m sure he has. A contingency plan for a crackpot scheme in ten years’ time that will probably never work.”
“Of course,” agreed Artemis. “As opposed to a scientifically viable scheme, right now, that has every chance of succeeding.”
Holly headed for the cockpit. “I have to turn myself in, even if I am a murder suspect. There is more at stake here than my future.”
“Steady on,” objected Mulch. “I broke out of prison for you. I have no desire to be shoved back in again.”
Artemis stepped in front of her. “Wait a minute, Holly. Think about what will happen if you do turn yourself in.”
“Artemis is right,” added Butler. “You should think about this. If the LEP is anything like human police forces, fugitives are not exactly welcomed with open arms. Open cell doors, maybe.”
Holly forced herself to stop and think, but it